IC-NRLF 


EDI 


v.  •/><• 


lillirlisf 


\  -J' 


Gninr  OF 
Miss   Frances   M.   Moleri 


SS  OF  THE  AGE; 


OR, 


BY 


HENRY  C.  PEDDER. 


"Everything  that  we  now  deem  of  antiquity  was  at  one  time 
new;  and  what  we  now  defend  by  examples  will  at  a  future  period 
stand  as  precedents." — Tacitus. 


YORK: 

ASA  K.  Burrs  &  'Co.,  36  DEY  STREET. 

1874 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1874,  by 

ASA  K.  BUTTS,  &  CO., 
In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


ENNI8  BRO.,  PRINT,  42  DEY  ST.,  K.Y. 


T37 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGES. 

Introduction. -        -         V  -  IX 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Scientific  Spirit  and  Its    Consequences. 

Science  and  Theology.  —  Enlarged  Views  of  Nature  Con- 
sequent on  the  Scientific  Spirit.  —  Fallacy  of  Appear- 
ances. —  Possibility  of  a  Science  of  Human  Nature.  — 
Benefits  Conferred  by  Science.  —  Science  and  Religion. 
—  Advantages  of  the  Socratic  Method  of  Reasoning.  — 
Evil  Effects  of  Prejudice.  —  Science  in  its  Relationship 
to  Human  Happiness  and  Advancement.  -  -  10-28 


CHAPTER  III. 

Skepticism:   Its  Function  and  Importance. 

Necessity  of  Skepticism.  —  Doubt  and  Knowledge.  —  Skep- 
ticism and  Civilization.  —  Skepticism  and  Protestantism. 
—  Reason  and  Sentiment.  —  Skepticism  and  Christi- 
anity. —  Skepticism  of  the  Present  Age  Defined.  -  29-45 


IV. 
CHAPTER  IV. 

Ancient  Faith  and  Modern  Culture. 

Characteristics  of  Modern  Thought.  —  A  Plea  for   Darwin- 
-ism.  —  Higher  and  Lower  Aspects  of  Science.—  Analy- 
sis of  the  Religious   Sentiment.  —  Beauty  of  Christian 
Character.  —  Laws  of  Nature.  —  Culture   and   Religion 
Not  Necessarily  Antagonistic :    Their   Aim  Identical.     46  -  74 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  Supremacy  of  Law:   Its  Physical  and  Psychical 
Conditions. 

Civilization  and  Barbarism.  —  Law  in  Nature.  —  Mythology 
and  Science.  —  Consequences  Involved  in  the  Supremacy 
of  Law.  —  Anthropomorphism  Not  Irrational.  —  Berke- 
ley's Philosophy.  —  Evidences  of  an  Intelligent  Cause. 

—  Identificatisn  of  Personality  with  Intelligence.  —  Man's 
Freedom  and  Moral  Sense.  —  Science  and  Morality.  — 
Physical  and  Moral  Science.  —  Prayer  and  Natural  Law. 

—  Definition  of  Prayer.  —  Man  as  an  Animal  and  as  a 
Spiritual  Being.  —  Psychical  Aspect  of  Law.  -      75  -  108 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Doctrine  of  Human  Progress. 

Evidences  of  a  Higher  and  Lower  Nature  in  Man.  —  Doc- 
trine of  Original  Sin.  —  Aversion  of  Modern  Thought 
to  the  Theological  Estimate.  —  The  Fact  of  Sin  Con- 
sidered. —  Science  and  Theology.  —  Lord  Palmerston  and 
the  Scotch  Clergy.  —  Idea  of  a  Personal  Devil  Repudiated 
by  Modern  Thought.  —  The  Existence  of  Evil  Consider- 
ed. —  Evidences  of  Continuity  in  Human  Development. 
—  Moral  Sequence,  —  Education ;  What  it  is,  and  What 


V. 


it  is  not.  —  Ideal  Influences.  —  Advantages  of  the  Pro- 
gressive Theory.  —  Demands  of  Man's  Higher  Nature. 
—  Neo-Platonism  and  Modern  Thought.  —  Philosophy  of 
Progress  Denned.  109-155 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Concluding  Remarks. 

Aim  of  Modern  Thought.  —  Evil  Consequences  of  Bigotry. — 
Evidences  of  Man's  Progress.  —  Conditions  of  Progress. 
—  Man  the  Columbus  of  Creation.  —  Prospects  and 
Possibilities  of  the  Future. 156-166 


INDEX,          -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -169-175 


ERRATA. 

Page  77,  line  W,  physical  should  be  psychical. 
"     87,     "     15,  Those  "       Thou. 

"  117,  "     21,  phenomena       "       phenomenon. 

"  166,  "       5,  precussor          "       precursor. 


PREFACE. 


TUB  contents  of  this  volume  being  intended  as  a  contri- 
bution toward  the  better  understanding  of  modern  thought, 
and  the  consequences  which  must  necessarily  result  from 
the  peculiar  intellectual  type  of  the  age,  it  needs  no  ex- 
haustive preface  to  explain  the  cause  of  its  production. 
As  a  sufficient  reason  for  its  conception  and  birth,  it  is 
enough  to  say  that  it  proposes  to  indicate  rather  than 
exhaust  the  nature  of  those  problems  of  life  and  mind  by 
which  we  are,  in  the  present  day,  so  abundantly  surrounded. 
An  uneasy,  restless  searching  after  something  broader, 
deeper,  and  more  satisfactory,  is  the  predominant  charac- 
teristic of  the  present  age;  and  in  view  of  this,  it  seems 
to  us  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  reflective  mind  to 
devote  at  least  some  attention  to  so  important  a  subject. 
How  far  such  a  result  may  be  accomplished  in  the  fol- 
lowing remarks,  time  and  experience  alone  can  determine. 
The  intention  is,  however,  a  good  one;  and  as  such  we 
can  confidently  recommend  the  following  pages  to  those 
who  are  disposed  to  bestow  an  unprejudiced  and  thoughtful 
consideration  on  questions  which  are  obviously  of  such 
vast  importance:  believing  also  that,  although  the  searching 
analysis  and  skeptical  spirit  of  the  present  age  may  cause 
many  years'  sojourn  in  the  wilderness  of  perplexity  and 


IV 

doubt,  We  are  nevertheless  certain  in  ihe  end  to  enter  the 
Promised  Land  and  find  peace. 

In  this  view,  therefore,  should  the  accompanying 
thoughts  answer  the  purpose  of  oases  in  what  may  seem 
to  some  a  desert  of  negation  and  unbelief,  they  will  amply 
have  fulfilled  their  mission. 

Lastly,  we  can  only  say,  should  it  be  found,  as  we  think 
it  will,  that  the  ideas  embodied  in  the  different  chapters 
deal  with  the  silent  depths  of  the  soul,  rather  than  the 
noisier  but  more  superficial  conditions  of  feeling,  and  also 
pertain  to  the  serenity  of  intelligence,  rather  than  the 
turmoil  of  irrational  prejudice,  it  is  hoped  that  they 
will,  for  this  reason,  be  all  the  more  welcome  to  those 
who,  after  many  intellectual  wanderings,  have  at  last 
learned  to  realize  a  grandeur  and  usefulness  in  those 
transitional  stages  of  thought  and  feeling  which  seem 
inseparable  from  the  conditions  01  human  existence,  and 
which  at  the  same  time  indicate  so  powerfully  that  man's 
destiny  is  progressive. 


Brooklyn,  August  &£,  1S74- 


INTRODUCTION. 


CEETAIXLY  if  there  ever  was  a  time  in  the  history  of  the 
human  race  when  the  spirit  of  the  age  was  fairly  indica- 
tive of  restlessness  and  change,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  present  tendency  of  modern  thought  affords  us 
many  of  the  most  general  and  most  striking  illustrations 
in  this  direction.  True  to  that  spirit  which  has  actuated 
thoughtful  men  in  all  ages,  and  which,  from  the  dawn  of 
Grecian  philosophy,  has  been  especially  operating  with  more, 
or  less  increasing  force  on  every  successive  generation, 
we  are  still  brought  face  to  face  with  those  problems  of  a 
speculative  character  which  have  always  been,  and  must 
always  be,  the  most  important  branch  of  inquiry  pertaining 
to  man  as  a  rational  and  sentient  being.  To  us  as  truly  as 
to  the  first  Greek  philosoper  there  comes  an  urgent  demand 
that  we  should  understand  the  meaning  of  this  wonderful 
panorama  by  which  we  are  surrounded;  the  meaning  of 
these  mysterious  instincts  in  our  nature  perpetually  driving 
us  forward  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge,  and  at  the  same 
time  producing  in  our  consciousness  a  realization  of  that 
fundamental  need  of  our  nature  which  constitutes  the 
basis  of  all  philosophy:  "  J  do  not  possess  wisdom,  Tmust 
look  for  it," 


VI 

The  higher  the  nature,  the  greater  the  demand;  so  that 
while  we  are  enabled  to  reproduce  in  our  imagination  the 
grandeur  of  those  efforts  which,  beginning  with  Thales, 
the  Milesian,  placed  Grecian  thought  on  its  exalted 
eminence,  we  are  also  enabled,  through  our  communion 
with  the  intellectual  giants  of  Greece,  to  appreciate  more 
thoroughly,  perhaps,  than  in  any  other  way  the  necessity  of 
understanding  the  present.  In  this  sense,  the  great  minds 
of  the  past  speak  to  us  with  an  eloquence  more  powerful 
than  the  most  brilliant  orations  of  GEschines  or  Demos- 
thenes. They  indicate  the  necessity  of  that  delicate  and 
subtile  analysis  which  enables  us  to  enter  into  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  age,  and  which,  because  it  induces  us  to 
separate  things  apparent  from  things  real,  brings  us  into  a 
more  vivid  realization  of  those  formative  influences  by 
which  our  future,  as  well  as  our  present,  is  determined.  As 
we  examine  these  various  phases  of  human  thought  that 
have  come  down  to  us,  it  may  be  true  that  they  indicate  a 
series  of  more  or  less  unsuccessful  attempts  to  master  the 
difficulties  of  those  complex  problems  of  human  nature  and 
human  destiny  with  which  the  progress  of  civilization  is 
so  intimately  associated  and  so  inseparably  connected.  To 
some  extent,  we  are  in  every  intellectual  problem  reminded 
of  Sisyphus.  And  yet  discouraging  as  this  view  may  be  in 
some  respects,  it  is  equally  encouraging  in  others.  Admit- 
ting, as  we  must,  that  the  mightiest  intellects  have  been 
those  most  keenly  alive  to  the  magnitude  and  inexhaustible 
nature  of  the  problem,  they  have  nevertheless  inspired  us 
with  their  hopes,  and  encouraged  us  by  their  example. 
The  history  of  philosophy  is  a  history  of  these  gradations 
of  the  human  intellect — the  approaching  to  and  receding 
from  the  science  of  principles  as  its  objective  point;  but  it 


VII 

is  none  the  less  a  record  of  those  marvelous  processes  of 
thought  which  would  seem  amply  to  justify  the  opinion  of 
Hegel:  "Philosophy  is  the  science  of  the  absolute  in  the 
form  of  dialectical  development,  or  the  science  of  the  self- 
comprehending   reason."    As   inheritors    of   an   advanced 
civilization,   and  as  actors  in  a  wonderful  drama  which 
every  new  phase  of  thought  renders  more  deeply  significant 
and    interesting,   we    are    therefore   compelled,   in    some 
measure   at   least,   to   enter   into   and   discover  the    true 
significance   of    that   restlessness   and   searching   analysis 
which  constitute  the  prevailing  features  of  the  present  age. 
"  It  is  not,"  as  Mr.  Greg  has  said  in  his  admirable  work, 
'Enigmas  of  Life,'  "by  shirking  difficulties  that  we  can 
remove  them  or  escape  them;  nor  by  evading  the  perplex- 
ing problems  of  life  or  speculation  that  we  can   hope  to 
solve  them;  nor  by  saying,  Hush,  hush!  to  every  over-sub- 
tile questioner  that  the  question   can  be   answered   or  the 
asker  silenced.     Men   cannot  go  on    forever  living   upon 
half-exploded  shams;  keeping  obsolete  laws  with  admittedly 
false  preambles  on  their  statute-books;  professing  creeds 
only  half  credited  and  quite  incredible;  standing  and  sleep- 
ing on  suspected  or  recognized  volcanoes;  erecting  both 
their  dwellings  and  their  temples  on  ice  which  the  first 
dreaded   rays   of   sunlight   they   know   must   melt  away. 
We  cannot  always  keep  clouds  and  darkness  round  about 
us;   and   it   is   a   miserable  condition  alike  for  men   and 
nations  to  feel  dependent  upon  being  able  permanently 
to    enforce   blindness    and    maintain    silence;    to    live,    as 
it  were,  intellectually  on  sufferance;   to  shiver  under  an 
uneasy  semi-consciousness  that  all  their  delicate  fabrics  of 
thought  and  peace  lie  at  the  mercy  of  the  first  pertinacious 
questioner  or  rude  logician."     No  matter  how  true  it  may 


VIII 

be,  as  before  said,  that  in  every  thing  pertaining  to  the 
phenomena  of  mind  we  land  sooner  or  later  in  the  region 
of  the  unknowable.  It  is  equally  true  that  the  measure  of 
our  investigation  must  always  be  the  measure  of  our  knowl- 
edge. Under  the  limitation  of  human  conditions,  and  in 
view  of  that  perpetual  blending  of  light  and  shadow  which 
surrounds  even  our  most  ordinary  perceptions,  it  is  obvious 
that  no  mind  can  expect  to  explore  the  whole  realm  of 
truth.  The  most  that  any  system  of  thought  can  con- 
sistently claim  is  to  stimulate  the  mind  and  to  quicken  our 
intellectual  activities.  Here  and  there  we  catch  glimpses 
of  the  truth  ;  but  this  is  all  that  can  reasonably  be  expected. 
It  is  all  that  the  present  work  expects  to  accomplish.  As 
Sir  William  Hamilton  has  well  said  in  his  treatment  of  the 
philosophy  of  the  conditioned:  "The  grand  result  of 
human  wisdom  is  thus  only  a  consciousness  that  what  we 
know  is  as  nothing  to  Avhat  we  know  not." 

"  Quantum  est  quod  nescimus  !  " 

An  articulate  confession,  in  fact,  by  our  natural  reason,  of 
the  truth  declared  in  revelation,  that  "now  we  see  through 
a  glass,  darkly."  Independently  of  this,  however,  man  is 
a  rational  being;  and  as  such,  even  admitting  that  all  knowl- 
edge is  but  qualified  ignorance,  it  still  remains  true  that  he 
must  doubt  to  investigate,  he  must  investigate  to  believe. 
Following  out  the  idea  conveyed  by  Plato's  definition  of 
man  as  "  the  hunter  of  truth,"  the  pursuit  is  the  main  con- 
sideration, the  success  comparatively  unimportant.  The 
disposition  to  think  for  ourselves,  even  if  it  fails  in  the 
realization  of  its  brightest  expectations,  is  at  least  a  sign 
of  manliness,  while  it  also  indicates  a  commendable  appre- 
ciation of  intellectual  freedom.  In  our  moments  of  per- 
plexity, we  may  again  and  again  have  occasion  to  repeat 


IX 

the  last  words  of  the  immortal  Goethe:  "More  liyht!" 
The  demand  is  inseparable  from  the  conditions  of  human 
thought  and  experience;  and,  as  such,  must  come  to  us  all. 
But  let  us  not  be  deceived.  It  is  a  prayer  that  is  always 
answered  in  a  manner  commensurate  with  the  demands  of 
the  age  and  the  measure  of  our  receptive  capacities.  As 
Lowell  has  beautifully  expressed  it: 

"God  sends  his  teachers  into  every  age, 
To  every  clime,  and  every  race  of  men, 
With  revelations  fitted  to  their  growth 
And  shape  of  mind;    nor  gives  the  realm  of  truth 
Unto  the  selfish  rule  of  one  sole  race." 

With  these  preliminary  observations  in  view,  let  us  there- 
fore endeavor  to  gain  at  least  a  partial  insight  into  the 
spirit  of  the  age  in  which  we  live.  The  character  of  the 
future  depends  largely  on  our  estimate  of  the  present. 


10 


THE   SCIENTIFIC    SPIRIT,    AND    ITS 
CONSEQUENCES. 


ACCEPTING  Professor  Tyndall's  "  Prayer  Test"  as  a  fair 
illustration  of  the  scientific  mode  of  interpreting  nature, 
and  at  the  same  time  bearing  in  mind  the  unlimited 
supply  of  theological  thunder  which  this  able  and  con- 
scientious scientist  has  called  forth,  we  are  certainly 
warranted  in  believing  that  the  time  has  fairly  arrived 
when  it  becomes  us  to  enter  somewhat  philosophically  into 
the  cause  of  so  significant  a  phenomenon — a  phenomenon 
which,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  is  remarkable  as  indicating 
in  a  peculiar  manner  the  antagonism  between  scientific 
and  unscientific  views  of  the  same  subject. 

Philosophy  and  science  on  the  one  hand,  and  theology 
on  the  other :  it  is  an  old  feud,  but  never  was  it  more 
strongly  marked  than  at  present,  when  the  scientific 
yeast  is  penetrating  into  the  innermost  recesses  of  our 
consciousness,  and  when  the  expansion  of  knowledge  is 
gradually  undermining  the  foundation  of  creeds  which 
until  now  have  been  deemed  infallible.  But,  says  some 
extremely  conservative  individual,  it  is  altogether  wrong- 
to  agitate  a  question  which  can  only  tend  to  weaken  the 
bases  of  our  faith,  diminish  the  importance  pf  long-estab- 
lished usages  and  traditions,  and  ultimately  even  to  render 
the  existence  of  religion  impossible. 


11 

Such  may  and  doubtless  will  be  the  expression  of 
many,  but  it  is  not  a  statement  of  the  truth ;  nor  does  it 
penetrate  beneath  the  surface  in  its  estimate  of  those 
forces  which  in  their  concurrent  action  make  up  the 
spirit  of  the  age.  As  rational  beings,  we  possess  certain 
faculties,  which,  besides  demanding  a  constant  process 
of  intellectual  exercise,  also  necessitate  an  incessant  and 
diligent  search  in  the  cause  of  truth  :  a  search,  too,  which, 
although  it  will  at  times  be  subversive  of  the  existing 
order  of  things,  is  nevertheless  incumbent  on  us  as 
possessors  of  talents  which  God  has  given  us  to  use,  and 
not  to  bury  in  the  earth. 

In  a  certain  sense,  it  may  be  true  that  the  sentiment 
which  confounds  the  inarch  of  intellect  with  the  opera- 
tions of  the  Devil  is  a  pardonable  one.  In  another, 
however,  and  that  by  far  the  most  important  sense,  it  is 
undeniably  a  hindrance  to  the  general  cause  of  truth. 
For  instance,  as  in  the  fourth  century,  when  the  belief 
in  the  antipodes  was  considered  unscriptural,  although  it 
may  have  been  excusable  in  the  pious  Lactantius  to 
oppose  the .  growing  idea,  the  opposition  certainly  did 
not  facilitate  the  cause  of  progress.*  Or,  to  select  another 
instance,  when  Galileo  asserted  the  revolution  of  the 


*In  connection  with  the  controversy  on  the  subject  of  the  antipodes,  it 
is  amusing,  from  our  present  stand  point,  to  notice  the  peculiar  views  advanced 
by  one  Cosmas,  who  was  evidently  considered  the  champion  on  the  orthodox  side. 
According  to  this  authority:  "  The  world  is  a  flat  parallelogram.  Its  length,  which 
should  be  measured  from  east  to  west,  is  the  double  of  its  breadth,  which  should 
be  measured  from  north  to  south.  In  the  center  is  the  earth  we  inhabit,  which  is 
surrounded  by  the  ocean,  and  this  again  is  encircled  by  another  earth,  in  which 
men  lived  before  the  deluge,  and  from  which  Noah  was  transported  in  the  ark.  To 
the  north  of  the  world  is  a  high  conical  mountain,  around  which  the  sun  and  moon 
continually  revolve.  When  the  sun  is  hid  behind  the  mountain,  it  is  night;  when 
it  is  on  our  side  of  the  mountain,  it  is  day."— See  "History  of  nationalism  in  Eu- 
rope," by  W.  E.  H.  LECKT,  M.  A.  Quotations  being  made  by  him  from  the  Ben- 
edictine Latin  translation  of  the  original. 


12 

earth,  although  it  was  somewhat  natural  that  the  church 
should  warmly  defend  the  Ptolemaic  system  of  the 
universe,  it  can  hardly  be  denied  that  the  cause  of 
progress  was  seriously  obstructed,  and  the  interests  of 
truth  made  subservient  to  the  dominations  of  an  ignorant 
and  oppressive  prejudice.  Similarly  must  the  value  of  all 
unscientific  and  circumscribed  opinions  be  measured  by 
us  at  the  present  day. 

The  world  has  moved ;  the  fact  of  the  antipodes  has 
been  established,  and,  although  we  are  not  liable  to  be 
put  to  death  for  entertaining  opinions  contrary  to  the 
dictum  of  authority,  there  still  remains  a  very  large 
residue  of  that  unscientific  spirit  which  Whewell  so  aptly 
describes  as  "  the  practice  of  referring  things  and  events 
not  to  clear  and  distinct  notions,  not  to  general  rules 
capable  of  direct  verification,  but  to  notions  vague, 
distant,  and  vast,  and  which  we  cannot  bring  into 
contact  with  facts  ;  "  arid  which,  it  will  be  easily  seen,  is 
therefore  necessarily  opposed  to  everything  like  a 
scientific  interpretation  of  man  and  nature."  We  have 
advanced,  it  is  true ;  and  the  ratio  of  our  advancement 
has  been  in  exact  proportion  to  the  measure  of  our 
knowledge  and  the  progress  we  have  thereby  made 
in,  first  of  all,  understanding  nature,  and  then  utiliz- 
ing our  discoveries.  Should  we  desire  to  continue 
advancing,  our  tendencies  must  be  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. Indeed,  so  truly  is  this  the  case,  that  we  may 
well  say,  in  the  language  of  the  late  Prince  Consort 
of  England:  "No  human  pursuits  make  any  material 
progress  until  science  is  brought  to  bear  upon  them, 
We  have  seen,  accordingly,  many  of  them  slumber 
for  centuries ;  but  from  the  moment  that  science  has 
touched  them  with  her  magic  wand,  they  have  sprung 


13 

forward,  and  taken  strides  which  amaze  and  almost  awe 
the  beholder.  Look  at  the  transformation  which  has  gone 
on  around  us  since  the  laws  of  gravitation,  electricity, 
magnetism,  and  the  expansive  power  of  heat  have  become 
known  to  us.  It  has  altered  the  whole  state  of  existence, 
— one  might  say  the  whole  face  of  the  globe.  We  owe 
this  to  science,  and  to  science  alone  ;  and  she  has  other 
treasures  in  store  for  us,  if  we  will  but  call  her  to  our 
assistance,  "f 

"  Let  there  be  light,"  says  science  ;  and,  in  obedience  to 
the  mandate,  mind  has  attained  a  supremacy  over  matter 
which  in  earlier  and  unscientific  ages  was  deemed 
impossible.  Nor  must  it  be  supposed  that  in  thus 
emphasizing  the  physical  advantages  of  science,  it  is 
intended  to  limit  the  field  of  scientific  application  to  the 
realm  of  physical  forces.  In  this  respect,  there  exists, 
unfortunately,  a  very  general  and  very  erroneous  impres- 
sion that  science  means  merely  the  accumulation  of  facts 
relating  to  the  world  of  matter ;  whereas  the  truth  is  that 
although  this  is  certainly  a  very  important  branch  of 
scientific  pursuit,  and  may  be  even  said  to  constitute  its 
sine  qua  non,  there  still  exists  a  higher  and  wider  sense  in 
which  it  applies  to  psychical  as  well  as  physical  activities  ; 
and  which,  because  it  invests  the  term  Nature  with  a  fuller 
and  more  perfect  meaning,  necessitates  a  profounder 
estimate  of  man  and  the  conditions  by  which  he  is 
surrounded.  But,  says'  some  one,  in  the  language  of 
Froude,  "If  it  is  free  to  a  man  to  choose  what  he  will 
tio  or  not  do,  there  is  no  adequate  science  of  him."  ;f 


t  Extract  from  an  address  delivered  at  Birmingham  by  his  Royal  Highness 
Prince  Albert.— See  '•'Culture  Demanded  by  Modern  Life,'1'1  page  444. 

$  "  Short  Studies  on  Great  Subjects,""  by  JAS.  ANTHONY  FROUDB,  Vol.  I,  page  11 . 


14 

On  the  surface,  this  may  seem  a  serious  objection  ;  tin 
obstacle  perhaps  which  to  some  minds  may  seem  entirely 
to  dispose  of  any  claim  to  universality  on  the  part  of 
science.  According  to  Phaidrus,  however : 

"  Non  semper  ea  sunt  qua  videntur,  decipit 
.  From  prima  miiltos." 

Appearances  are  almost  always  deceptive — there  never 
was  a  greater  truth — but  they  are  especially  so  when 
applied  to  subjects  that  border  on  the  abstruse  and  pro- 
found. Allowing  that  we  cannot  predicate  an  exact 
science  of  man,  and  admitting  also  that  scientific  pre- 
visions have  necessarily  various  degrees  of  definiteness, 
it  certainly  does  not  follow  that  we  are  therefore 
compelled  to  abandon  our  position ;  nor  is  it  because 
we  cannot  claim  for  the  science  of  human  nature  a 
place  beside  astronomy  as  an  exact  science  that  we 
must  therefore  pronounce  the  impossibility  of  its  being  a 
science  at  all.  Apply  this  argument  to  some  of  the 
physical  sciences,  meteorology,  for  instance,  and  see  what 
the  result  would  be.  Surely  no  one  would  dream  of 
calling  meteorology  an  exact  science,  nor  would  they,  nor 
could  they,  say  because  it  is  not  exact,  it  is  therefore  no 
science.  It  gives  evidences  of  some  prevision,  and  there- 
fore there  is  some  science.  And  precisely  similar  is  it 
when  we  attempt  to  apply  the  scientific  spirit  to  the 
science  of  man. 

"It  is  no  disparagement,  therefore,  to  the  science  of 
human  nature  that  those  of  its  general  propositions 
which  descend  sufficiently  into  detail  to  serve  as  a 
foundation  for  predicting  phenomena  in  the  concrete  are, 
for  the  most  part,  only  approximately  true.  But  in  order 
to  give  a  genuinely  scientific  character  to  the  study,  it  is 


15 

indispensable  that  these  approximate  generalizations, 
which  in  themselves  would  amount  only  to  the  lowest 
kind  of  empirical  laws,  should  be  connected  deductively 
with  the  laws  of  nature  from  which  they  result ;  should 
be  resolved  into  the  properties  of  the  causes  on  which 
the  phenomena  depend.  In  other  words,  the  science  of 
human  nature  may  be  said  to  exist  in  proportion  as 
those  approximate  truths  which  compose  a  practical 
knowledge  of  mankind  can  be  exhibited  as  corollaries 
from  the  universal  laws  of  human  nature  on  which  they 
rest ;  whereby  the  proper  limits  of  those  approximate 
truths  would  be  shown,  and  we  should  be  enabled  to 
deduce  others  for  any  new  state  of  circumstances,  in  antic- 
ipation of  specific  experience."  §  Nor  is  there  anything 
chimerical  in  this  definition  of  the  highest  and  noblest 
aspect  of  science.  As  scientists,  we  are  bound  to  commence 
our  investigations  on  the  basis  of  physical  life.  As 
philosophers,  we  are  warranted  in  enlarging  the  horizon 
of  scientific  uses,  and  thus  postulating  the  possibility 
of  a  science  of  human  nature.  Nor  is  the  transition  of 
thought,  even  in  a  remote  sense,  arbitrary  or  unnatural. 
Situated,  as  we  are  in  a  world  where  everything  is 
governed  by  law,  and  surrounded  as  we  are  by  innumer- 
able evidences  that  the  discovery  of  law  means  the 
enlargement  of  our  spheres  of  usefulness,  the  ameliora- 
tion of  sickness  and  suffering,  the  utilization  of  hidden 
resources,  and  the  augmentation  of  our  happiness,  it  cer- 
tainly is  but  natural  that  the  deepest  and  most  earnest 
thinkers  should  feel  themselves  thoroughly  imbued  with 
the  idea  that  there  is  and  must  be  a  science  of  man  as 
truly  as  there  is  a  science  of  botany,  chemistry  or  geology. 

§  "  System  of  Logic,  Hatiocinadve  and  Inductive,"  by  JOHN  STUAHT  MILL, 


16 

Observe,  too,  in  this  connection,  that,  in  the  event  of  our 
so  far  circumscribing  the  sphere  of  science  as  to  preclude 
its  application  to  human  nature,  we  are  compelled  either 
to  seek  for  our  justification  in  the  ridiculous  theory  that 
all  human  affairs  are  determined  by  chance,  or  by  special 
and  miraculous  interpositions  of  the  Supreme  Being,  and 
therefore  beyond  the  limits  of  scientific  investigation  ;  or, 
otherwise,  to  resort  to  that  still  greater  absurdity  which 
induces  the  supposition  that  although  science  is  relevant 
when  applied  to  the  forms  and  forces  of  matter,  it  is 
irrelevant  and  useless  when  applied  to  man  :  a  position 
which,  in  addition  to  the  dilemma  in  which  it  inevitably 
places  us,  can  only  meet  with  the  same  fate,  from  the 
gradual  but  certain  encroachments  of  a  strictly  scientific 
spirit,  that  the  ipse  dixit  of  Canute  did  from  the  waters  of 
Southampton.  True,  it  may  be  many  years  before  we  are 
enabled  fairly  to  realize  the  exact  nature  of  those  laws 
which  govern  the  mental  and  moral  constitution  of  man  ; 
the  nature  of  social  tendencies  and  aggregations,  and 
how  from  their  primitive  and  chaotic  condition  they  have 
attained  that  state  in  which  we  now  find  them. 

From  the  magnitude  and  importance  of  the  subjects 
involved,  this  must  of  necessity  be  the  case.  Follow- 
ing as  a  consequence  derived  from  that  law  of  hereditary 
transmission  which  renders  every  age  in  some  sense  the 
resemblance  of  its  predecessors,  we  are  still  influenced  by 
certain  conditions  of  a  retrospective  rather  than  a  pro- 
gressive character ;  and  which,  therefore,  impede  to  some 
extent  the  dissemination  and  application  of  scientific 
principles.  As  Goethe  says,  "  It  is  much  easier  to  perceive 
error  than  to  find  truth ; "  a  maxim  especially  applica- 
ble to  the  mass  of  ignorance  and  bigotry  which  the 
scientific  spirit  has  to  contend  against. 


17 

Here,  however,  let  us  be  sure  we  do  not  deceive  our- 
selves. In  a  certain  sense,  and  that  a  limited  one,  it  is 
perfectly  true  that  we  are  hampered  by  the  relics  of  an 
unscientific  age ;  but  in  another  sense,  and  that  a  general 
one,  it  is  equally  true  that 

"Earth  outgrows  the  mythic  fancies 
Sung  beside  her  in  her  youth." 

So  it  has  always  been ;  so  it  must  always  be.  So  it  was 
when  the  world  laid  aside  the  beautiful  dreams  of  its 
childhood,  for  the  truer,  though  somewhat  more  prosaic, 
sentiments  of  a  maturer  age.  So  it  is  now,  while  we  are 
passing  from  the  simpler  to  the  more  complex  and  more 
rational  views  consequent  on  the  scientific  spirit  of  the 
age.  Tenderly  as  we  may  regard,  and  fondly  as  we  may 
dwell  upon,  those  earlier  lispings  of  the  human  race,  of 
which  we  have  so  many  evidences  in  the  Veda,  the  Zend- 
avesta,  and  the  mytholog}^  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 
we  are  nevertheless  compelled  to  realize  both  the  useful- 
ness and  importance  of  that  change  which,  although  it 
dissipates  many  beautiful  illusions,  gives  us  at  the  same 
time  what  is  of  infinitely  more  value,  viz.,  a  clearer  and 
fuller  appreciation  of  the  truth.  Standing,  as  we  do, 
upon  the  platform  of  modern  thought,  it  is,  indeed,  as  if 
in  ages  long  past  there  had  been  many  beautiful  ideas 
suggested,  many  notes  of  exquisite  and  delicious  harmony 
passing  over  the  lyre  of  the  human  soul ;  whereas,  in 
these  clays,  we  have  a  symphony  of  thought  not  so  full 
of  pathos,  perhaps,  but  yet  more  thoroughly  blended 
into  a  harmonious  tune.  Considered  in  the  light  of  our 
superior  enlightenment,  it  is  no  longer  possible  for  us  to 
regard  the  cloud  upon  the  mountain-top  as  a  conclave  of 
divinities;  but,  under  the  same  enlightenment,  we  are 


18 

enabled  to  transmute  the  mythological  thought  into  a 
scientific  estimate;  our  superior  knowledge  thus  dis- 
closing to  us  an  infinite  concatenation  of  causes  and 
effects,  whereby  we  are  led  from  one  point  to  another 
along  the  entire  network  of  nature  ;  'and  which,  in  point  of 
intrinsic  value,  is  really  superior  to  the  discordant  elements 
of  an  earlier  age,  proportionately  as  truth  is  better 
than  error — a  progressive  condition,  in  fact,  in  which 
we  pass  from  the  irregular  and  disorganized  forces  of  an 
unscientific  age,  to  the  systematic  application  of  princi- 
ples discovered  through  patient  and  diligent  research. 
Syllogistical  theses  have  had  their  day :  it  is  now  the 
season  of  scientific  experiment.  To  some  extent,  it  is 
true  that  we  live  in  the  same  world  as  that  inhabited  by 
our  ancestors,  and  yet  so  changed  are  our  conditions 
that  it  is  equally  true  that  the  present  measure  of 
scientific  attainments,  if  predicted  a  thousand  years  ago, 
would  have  sounded  much  more  like  a  chapter  from  the 
Arabian  Nights'  Entertainments  than  the  prophetic 
promise  of  a  reality. 

But,  says  some  one,  the  question  still  remains  an  open 
one,  whether  scientific  investigation,  in  spite  of  all  its 
advantages,  does  not  tend  to  the  disintegration  of  all 
religious  ideas,  thus  inculcating,  in  place  of  the  lofty 
idealism  of  Christianity,  a  merely  unsatisfactory  doctrine 
of  Materialism.  In  a  measure  this  objection  has  already 
been  anticipated,  but,  in  order  to  answer  it  more  fully,  it 
may  not  be  amiss  to  examine  the  foundations  on  which 
the  possibility  of  such  an  objection  is  founded.  To 
accomplish  this,  it  seems  to  us,  the  first  and  most 
important  consideration  consists  in  ascertaining  clearly 
what  we  mean  by  the  terms  Nature  and  Religion.  In 
this  connection,  -unless  we  can  so  far  imitate  the 


19 

Socratic  form  of  argument  as  to  understand,  in  something 
like  a  definite  form,  the  meaning  of  the  subjects  we  are 
discussing,  it  would  be  possible  to  go  on  forever  without 
in  the  least  effecting  our  purpose.  Indeed,  it  is  the  most 
obvious  thing  in  the  world  that  as  long  as  these  terms 
signify  to  the  scientific  mind  one  tiling,  and  to  the 
unscientific  mind  quite  another,  we  may  go  on  ad 
infinitum  exchanging  our  intellectual  artillery,  and  in  the 
end  find  that  it  has  all  been  to  no  purpose. 

As  an  example  of  this,  we  have  only  to  look  at  the 
extent  anft  f  ruitlessness  of  theological  discussions ;  thereby 
noticing  that  their  irreconcilable  differences  proceed  quite 
as  much  from  mutual  misunderstanding  as  they  do  from 
any  inherent  antagonism  in  the  opinions  discussed. 
Each  polemic  confines  himself  to  his  own  partisans,  and 
makes  no  impression  on  his  adversary.  In  fact,  so 
extremely  surperficial  and  fruitless  have  these  discussions 
been,  that  even  if  we  consider  Martial's  sarcasm,  "  Iras  et 
verba  locant"  too  severe  in  its  application  to  these  dis- 
putants, it  still  remains  true  that,  in  their  desire  to  quarrel 
more  about  the  shadow  than  the  substance,  the  result 
has  been  the  production  of  those  manifold  isms  which  so 
sorely  perplex  the  minds  of  ordinary  observers ;  and 
which,  although  in  their  petty  doctrinal  disputes  they 
have  invested  the  fair  and  beautiful  form  of  Christianity 
with  a  theological  garment  of  as  many  colors  as  Joseph's 
coat,  in  their  last  analysis  resolve  their  differences  into 
an  unnecessary  war  of  words,  rather  than  into  an  actual 
contest  of  principles. 

"  Men's  tongues  are  voluble, 
And  endless  are  the  modes  of  speech,  and  far 
Extends  from  side  to  side  the  field  of  words."|| 

I)  BRYANT'S  "  Homer-Iliad,"  Book  XX, 


20 

Far  be  it  from  us,  however,  to  fall  into  a  similar  error ; 
while,  the  more  fully  to  illustrate  this  branch  of  the 
argument,  we  will  cite  a  good  example  furnished  by 
Professor  Blackie  in  his  masterly  essay  on  Socrates.  It 
reads  thus  :  "  Suppose  I  get  into  an  argument  with  any 
person  as  to  whether  A  or  B,  or  any  person  holding  cer- 
tain opinions,  manifesting  certain  feelings,  and  acting  in 
a  certain  way,  is  a  Christian.  I  say  he  is,  my  contradictor 
says  he  is  not ;  how  then  shall  we  settle  the  difference  ? 
Following  the  example  of  Socrates,  the  best  procedure 
certainly  will  be  to  ask  him  to  define  what  he  means  by  a 
Christian.  Suppose  then  he  answers,  a  Christian  is  a 
religious  person  who  believes  in  the  Nicene  creed.  I 
immediately  reply,  the  Nicene  creed  was  not  sent  forth 
till  the  year  325  after  Christ ;  what  then  do  you  make 
of  the  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Christians 
who  lived  before  that?  To  this  objection  the  answer  of 
course  will  be  that  the  Nicene  creed,  though  not  set 
forth  in  express  articles,  did  virtually  exist  as  a  part  of 
the  living  faith  of  all  true  Christians.  Then,  if  I  doubt 
this,  I  say,  was  Origen  a  Christian,  was  Justin  Martyr  a 
Christian  ?  Are  you  sure  these  two  fathers  believed  every 
article  of  that  creed?  My  opponent  now,  in  all  likeli- 
hood, not  being  profoundly  versed  in  patristic  lore,  is 
staggered  ;  and  I  proceed,  we  shall  suppose,  to  cite  some 
passages  from  some  of  the  ante-Nicene  Fathers  which 
imply  dissent  from  some  of  the  articles  of  the  orthodox 
s}^mbol.  He  is  then  reduced  to  the  dilemma  of  either 
denying  that  this  Father  was  a  Christian,  or  (as  that  will 
scarcely  be  allowable)  widening  his  original  definition  so 
as  to  include  a  variety  of  cases  which,  by  the  narrowness 
of  the  terms,  were  excluded.  I  then  go  on  to  test  the 
comprehensiveness  of  the  new  definition  in  the  same  way  ; 


21 

and  if  I  find  that  it  contains  any  elements  which  belong 
to  the  species  and  not  to  the  genus,  any  peculiarities, 
say,  of  modern  Calvinisn,  or  of  medieval  Popery,  that  do 
not  belong  to  the  general  term  '  Christianity,'  I  push 
him  into  a  corner  in  the  same  way  as  before,  till  I  bring 
out  from  his  own  admissions  a  pure  and  broad  definition 
of  the  designation  of  Christian,  as  opposed  to  Heathen, 
Jew,  or  any  other  sort  of  religious  professor."  1" 

Such  was  the  Socratic  method  of  arriving  at  a  sound 
.basis  on  which  to  reason  ;  and  we  can  easily  see  from  the 
example  that,  in  proportion  as  the  definition  is  widened, 
so  far  does  there  exist  a  possibility  of  ignoring  all  minor 
differences,  and  giving  to  the  term  involved  a  breadth  of 
meaning  which  it  did  not  at  first  seem  to  possess. 

Correspondingly,  it  is  only  by  an  enlargement  and 
expansion  of  the  terms  Nature  and  Religion  that  the 
scientific  mind  can  hope  to  be  fairly  understood.  For 
instance,  if,  from  a  theological  standpoint,  we  mean  by 
tjie  term  Nature  merely  the  result  of  a  creative  fiat,  as 
represented  in  the  Mosaic  cosmogony  ;  and,  from  a  scien- 
tific point  of  view,  mean  by  the  same  term  a  whole 
series  of  geological  changes  so  vast  that  even  the  most 
stupendous  intellectual  efforts  fail  to  estimate  their 
immensity ;  or,  again,  when  speaking  of  Eeligion,  if  we 
mean,  on  the  one  hand,  a  mere  assent  to  certain  creeds 
and  forms  of  ceremonial  worship,  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
mean,  by  the  same  term,  that  deeply  seated  sentiment 
of  reciprocity  between  the  creature  and  the  Creator  which, 
although  it  embraces  all  creeds  and  formulas,  assigns  to 
them  the  position  of  minor  auxiliaries,  or,  at  best,  mere 


1  "Four  Phases  of  Morals,"  by  JOHN  STUAKT  BLACKIE,  Professor  of  Greek  in 
the  University  of  Edinburgh. 


22 

adumbrations  of  the  truth — it  is  clear,  in  the  face  of 
these  facts,  that  there  can  be  no  common  ground  on 
which  we  may  effect  a  reconciliation,  or  even  an  under- 
standing. Not  so,  however,  when  once  we  have  stripped 
the  matter  of  all  extraneous  issues,  and  thus  find  that 
there  is  a  common  ground  on  which  Science  and  Religion 
may  meet,  not  as  antagonists,  but  as  twin  sisters,  both 
having  equal  claims  to  a  celestial  birth,  and  both,  in  their 
different  functions,  tending  to  elevate  man  into  a  condi- 
tion of  wisdom  and  happiness. 

In  its  highest  and  profoundest  sense,  science  as  truly 
as  religion  participates  in  that  beautiful  sentiment : 

"  Be  worthy  of  death;    and  so  learn  to  live 
That  every  incarnation  of  thy  soul 
In  other  realms,  and  worlds,  and  firmaments, 
Shall  be  more  pure  and  high." 

In  the  consciousness  of  a  strictly  scientific  man  there  is 
nothing  which  precludes  the  possibility  of  his  being  a 
religious  man  also.  Of  course,  the  quality  of -his  religion 
must  necessarily  differ  very  materially  from  that  of  the 
01  TToAAoz,-  but  this  does  not  deny  the  possible  coexist- 
ence of  the  religious  with  the  scientific  sentiment 
No ;  the  fact  is  (in  spite  of  the  many  confused  ideas  on 
the  subject),  the  principles  which  actuate  a  pure  religion, 
and  the  principles  which  actuate  a  noble  and  useful 
science,  although  not  identical,  are  certainly  not  antag- 
onistic or  even  inimical.  In  these  days  there  is  much 
said  about  the  atheistical  and  disastrous  tendencies  of 
modern  science;  but  to  those  who  think  calmly  and 
profoundly  on  the  subject,  the  alarm  is  a  false  one; 
or  at  least  one  in  which  the  truth  is  so  dreadfully  dis- 
torted that  we  cannot  help  pitjnng  the  strait  to  which 
theologians  are  reduced  when  they  are  so  far  com- 


23 

pelled  to  sacrifice  principle  to  fury.  Nor  can  it  be 
denied  that  it  becomes  impossible,  in  this  connection,  for 
any  one  to  look  candidly  and  carefully  at  those  dogmas 
which  theologians  are  pleased  to  prescribe  as  the  measure 
and  fullness  of  truth,  without  being  somewhat  reminded 
of  the  fabled  lamps  in  the  tomb  of  Terentia,  which 
burned  for  many  years  under  ground,  but  which  as 
soon  as  they  were  exposed  to  the  air,  and  saw  a 
brighter  light,  immediately  went  out.  We  have  passed 
from  the  twilight  of  superstition  into  the  sunshine  of 
reason ;  and  the  result  is  visible  in  the  quality  as  well 
as  in  the  quantity  of  the  world's  knowledge.  In  other 
words,  we  have  become  dissatisfied  with  the  settled 
opinions  of  our  ancestors,  and  the  consequence  is  that, 
even  though  we  are  in  duty  bound  to  give  them  decent 
burial,  we  are  at  the  same  time  compelled  to  yield  our 
zealous  admiration  to  that  scientific  spirit  which  has 
already  done  so  much  toward  bringing  the  forces  of 
physical  nature  under  human  control,  and  which  also 
promises,  by  a  process  of  gradual  enlightenment,  to 
illuminate  many  hitherto  dark  corners  in  the  regions  of 
philosophy  and  psychology.* 

Omnium  rerum  vicissitude  est. 
In  the  destruction,  however,  of  unimportant  creeds 


*  "In  no  age  so  conspicuously  as  in  our  own  hag  there  been  a  crowding  in  of 
new  scientific  conceptions  of  all  kinds  to  exercise  a  perturbing  influence  on 
speculative  philosophy.  They  have  come  in  almost  too  fast  for  philosophy's 
power  of  conception.  She  has  visibly  reeled  amid  their  shocks,  and  has  not  yet 
recovered  her  equilibrium.  Within  those  years  alone  which  we  are  engaged  in 
surveying,  there  have  been  developments  of  native  British  science,  not  to  speak 
of  influxes  of  scientific  ideas,  hints,  and  probabilities  from  without,  in  the  midst 
of  which  British  philosophy  has  looked  about  her  scared  and  bewildered,  and  has 
felt  that  some  of  her  oldest  statements  about  herself,  and  some  of  the  most  im- 
portant terms  in  her  vocabulary,  require  re-explication."— Recent  British  Philo- 
sophy, by  Prof.  MASON,  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh. 


24 

and  dogmas,  and  the  habit  of  restlessness  which  the 
scientific  spirit  necessitates,  the  essence  of  religion  still 
remains ;  nor  is  it  the  desire  of  science  to  diminish  its 
importance.  Or,  to  emphasize  as  distinctly  as  possible 
the  attitude  of  scientific  thought  in  this  respect,  it  is 
perfectly  clear,  to  the  most  reflective  minds,  that  the 
ovffia  of  religion  may  be  and  is  indestructible ;  while 
the  media  through  which  it  expresses  itself,  and  the  forms 
constituting  its  method  of  expression,  are  of  necessity 
governed  and  directed  by  the  intellectual  type  of  the  age, 
and  the  prevailing  tendency  of  thought  and  sentiment. 
True,  the  measure  of  human  prejudice  is  so  powerful 
that  it  has  taken  the  world  ages  to  realize  the  truth  of 
this  statement ;  but  it  is  no  less  valid  on  that  account. 
In  the  history  of  human  development,  if  there  is  one 
feature  more  strongly  marked  than  another,  it  is  that  the 
special  characteristic  of  every  age  consists  in  its  power 
of  assimilation ;  and  thus  of  incorporating  such  thoughts 
and  sentiments  as  are,  by  an  apparently  orderly  process, 
adapted  to  the  measure  of  growth  and  the  capacity 
of  digestion. 

To  appreciate,  therefore,  the  peculiarly  advanced 
condition  of  modern  thought,  it  will  be  well  for  us  to 
bear  in  mind  two  very  important  considerations  which, 
though  superficially  remote,  are  nevertheless  very  closely 
related :  i.  e.,  the  numerous  advantages  derived  from  the 
application  of  scientific  principles,  and  the  many  grada- 
tions and  fluctuations  of  thought  which  have  all  in  some 
way  contributed  toward  the  formation  of  our  present 
intellectual  status. 

In  our  present  transitional  process,  and  in  view  of  the 
increasing  supremacy  of  scientific  thought  which  accompa- 
nies it,  there  is  no  suspension  or  violation  of  this  principle. 


25 

"The  eternal  Pan, 
Bidetk  never  in  one  shape, 
But  forever  doth  escape 
.     Into  new  forms," 

is  true  not  only  as  a  poetic  divination,  it  is  also  true 
when  applied  as  a  principle  to  those  processes  and 
transformations  upon  which  our  intellectual  as  well  as  our 
physical  life  depends.  From  the  nature  of  its  methods, 
and  its  persistency  and  breadth  of  investigation,  the 
*  scientific  spirit  must  necessarily  encroach  upon  the 
domain  of  theology  and  philosophy ;  but  what  of  that, 
since  the  consecration  of  its  energie's  to  the  discovery  of 
truth  is  an  unquestionable  guaranty  as  to  its  purposes. 
Indeed,  with  respect  to  the  theological  aspect  of  the  sub- 
ject, it  were  better  for  the  human  race  had  the  Church  at 
an  earlier  day  learned  to  appreciate  and  utilize  the 
glorious  mission  of  Science. 

As  has  been  truly  remarked :  "  No  one  can  study 
the  progress  of  modern  civilization  without  being  con- 
tinually reminded  of  the  great,  it  might  be  said  the 
mortal,  mistake  committed  by  the  Roman  Church.  Had 
it  put  itself  forth  as  the  promoter  and  protector  of 
science,  it  would  at  this  day  have  exerted  an  unques- 
tioned dominion  over  all  Europe.  Instead  of  being  the 
stumbling-block,  it  would  have  been  the  animating 
agent  of  human  advancement.  It  shut  the  Bible  only 
to  have  it  opened  forcibly  by  the  Reformation ;  it  shut 
the  book  of  Nature,  but  has  found  it  impossible  to  keep 
it  closed.  How  different  the  result  had  it  abandoned  the 
obsolete  absurdities  of  patristicism,  and  become  imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  true  philosophy — had  it  lifted  itself  to 
a  comprehension  of  the  awful  magnificence  of  the 
.  heavens  above  and  the  glories  of  the  earth  beneath — had 


26 

it  appreciated  the  immeasurable  vastness  of  the  universe, 
its  infinite  multitude  of  worlds,  its  inconceivable  past 
duration !  How  different  if,  in  place  of  ever  looking 
backward,  it  had  only  looked  forward — bowing  itself 
down  in  a  world  of  life  and  light,  instead  of  worshiping, 
in  the  charnel-house  of  antiquity,  the  skeletons  of  twenty 
centuries !  How  different  had  it  hailed  with  transport 
the  discoveries  and  inventions  of  human  genius,  instead 
of  scowling  upon  them  with  a  malignant  and  baleful 
eye!  How  different  had  it  canonized  the  great  men 
who  have  been  the  interpreters  of  Nature,  instead  of 
anathematizing  them  as  atheists  !  "f  Of  the  correctness 
of  these  views  there  can  be  no  doubt.  Were  science 
better  understood  there  would  be  fewer  false  alarmists. 
Were  she  better  appreciated,  there  can  be  no  reasonable 
doubt  that  the  course  of  progress  would  be  much  more 
uniform  and  rapid. 

The  habit  of  thought  which  has  already  done  so  much 
toward  giving  us  an  almost  absolute  supremacy  over  the 
forces  of  Nature  must  of  necessity  prove  beneficial  when 
applied  to  those  complex  conditions  growing  out  of 
human  life.  In  the  spirit  of  men,  let  us,  therefore, 
cultivate  those  scientific  influences  which  have  already 
done  so  much  to  render  man  the  crown  and  glory  of  the 
universe ;  and  which,  by  a  judicious  application  of  its 
principles,  must  necessarily  tend  more  and  more  to  lift 
us  out  of  the  shadowy  region  of  hypothesis,  into  the 
clearer  atmosphere  of  theory  grounded  on  fact ;  and 
when,  also,  by  an  enlarged  application  of  the  same  prin- 
ciples, we  shall  realize  the  possibility  of  a  universal 


t  "Deficiencies  of  Clerical  Education,"  by  JOHN  W.  DRAPER,  M.D.,  L.L.D.,  of 
the  University  of  New  York.    See  "  Culture  Demanded  by  Modern  Life,"  page430. 


27 

science,  embracing  in  its  widest  and  profoundest  sense 
the  science  of  life.  Nor  is  this  expectation  by  any 
means  an  unreasonable  one. 

On  the.  contrary,  just  so  surely  as  our  habits  of 
scientific  thought  compel  us  to  enlarge  our  views  of 
religion,  and  to  purify  and  enlighten  our  theological 
ideas,  just  so  surely  will  we  witness  the  inauguration  of 
that  grand  and  comprehensive  philosophy  which  Bacon 
describes  as  "  the  union  and  co-operation  of  all  in  build- 
ing up  and  perfecting  that  House  of  Solomon,  the  end 
of  which  is  the  knowledge  of  causes  and  of  the  secret 
motions  of  things,  and  the  enlarging  of  the  bounds  of 
human  empire  to  the  effecting  of  all  things  possible." 
As  we  pass  from  the  phenomena  of  life  to  those  of 
mental  and  moral  emotions,  it  is  indeed  true  that  we 
enter  a  region  of  almost  impenetrable  mystery.  As  we 
enter  this  mysterious  region,  it  is  well  to  remember  the 
delicate  and  sensitive  nature  of  the  subject.  It  is  also 
well,  however,  to  remember  that,  even  at  the  risk  of 
doing  some  temporary  violence,  the  scientific  spirit  is 
bound  to  enter. 

In  many  instances,  some  of  our  fondest  sentiments 
will  be  trampled  under  foot ;  but  this  is  inevitable  in  any 
process  which  professes  to  eliminate  the  false  from  the 
true.  It  is  due  to  the  searching  analysis  of  a  scientific 
age.  Destructive  in  some  respects,  science  is,  however, 
reconstructive  in  others.  Under  one  aspect,  we  see  onty 
the  demolition  and  decay  of  many  venerable  creeds  and 
dogmas.  Under  another,  and  that  by  far  the  most  im- 
portant, we'cannot  resist  the  conviction  that  there  is 
something  grand  and  encouraging  in  that  condition  of 
thought  which  results  from  a  careful  study  and  proper 
appreciation  of  the  scientific  spirit.  The  method  of 


28 

scientific  inquiry  may  be  severe ;  but  it  is,  for  this  reason, 
all  the  more  healthy  and  beneficial.  Like  a  skillful 
surgeon,  it  inflicts  pain  merely  to  cure  disease. 

The  advancement  of  science  means  necessarily  a 
clearer  insight  into  the  laws  of  nature;  a  better  ac- 
quaintance with  nature  means  necessarily  the  promotion 
of  our  welfare  and  happiness,  and  the  ultimate  dominion 
of  mind  over  matter.  It  is,  therefore,  a  fallacious  mode 
of  reasoning  which  would  seek  to  restrict  the  sphere  of 
scientific  influences,  or,  in  any  sense,  impede  the  progress 
of  scientific  ideas.  To  understand  ourselves  we  must 
understand  the  conditions  which  surround  us.  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  this  is  impossible  without  the  aid  of 
science. 


29 


SKEPTICISM:  ITS  FUNCTION  AND  IMPORTANCE. 


Phcedrus. — Do  you  see  that  tallest  plane-tree  in  the 
distance  ? 

/Socrates. — Yes. 

Phcedrus. — There  are  shade  and  gentle  breezes,  and  grass 
on  which  we  may  either  sit  or  lie  down. 

Socrates. — Move  on. 

Phcedrus. — I  should  like  to  know,  Socrates,  whether  the 
place  is  not  somewhere  here  at  which  Boreas  is  said 
to  have  carried  oif  Orithyia  from  the  banks  of  the 

Ilissus. 

Socrates. — That  is  the  tradition. 

Phcedrus. — And  is  this  the  exact  spot?  The  little  stream 
is  delightfully  clear  and  bright ;  I  can  fancy  that  there 
might  be  maidens  playing  near. 

Socrates. — I  believe  that  the  spot  is  not  exactly  here,  but 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  lower  down,  where  you 
cross  to  the  Temple  of  Agra,  and  I  think  that  there 
is  some  sort  of  Altar  of  Boreas  at  the  place. 

Phcedrus. — I  don't  recollect ;  but  I  wish  that  you  would 
tell  me  whether  you  believe  this  tale. 


30 

Socrates. — The  wise  are  doubtful,  and  if,  like  them,  I  also 
doubted,  there  would  be  nothing  very  strange  in 
that* 

Such  is  the  dialogue,  as  Plato  represents  it,  between 
the  two  friends,  as  they  enter  into  a  shady  retreat  for  the 
purpose  of  discussing  the  merits  of  Lysias'  speech. 

The  conditions  are  truly  inviting:  the  country  is 
beautiful,  the  air  exquisitely  pure  and  full  of  sweet 
scents,  as  they  pass  on  to  their  goal,  and  to  the  consider- 
ation of  their  subject.  For  us,  however,  it  is  only  the 
passing  remark  that  "  the  wise  are  doubtful,  etc,"  which 
at  present  concerns  us ;  and  which  we  have  selected 
because  it  in  a  measure  forms  an  introduction  to  the  sub- 
ject embraced  in  the  present  chapter:  viz.,  that  spirit  of 
doubt,  and  disposition  to  investigate,  which,  having 
become  synonymous  with  the  spirit  of  the  age,  are  at 
once  the  terror  of  extreme  conservatism,  and  the  hope 
and  promise  of  liberal  and  progressive  thought.  Tradi- 
tion says  the  latter  is  well ;  but  rational  and  clear- 
sighted investigation  is  better.  And  thus  we  pass  into  a 
habit  of  thought  in  many  respects  hostile  to  that  of 
the  past,  and  which,  when  viewed  from  an  ecclesi- 
astical standpoint,  is  thus  described :  "  Doubt  is  every- 
where. Skeptical  suggestions  are  wrapped  in  narrative ; 
they  bristle  in  short,  shallow,  self-asserting  essa}7s,  in 
which  men  who  really  show  their  ignorance,  think  they 
show  their  depth  ;  the^y  color  ^>ur  physical  philosophy  ; 
they  mingle  themselves  with  our*  commonplace  theology 
itself,  "f  Thus,  according  to  orthodoxy,  in  addition  to 


*  "Dialogues  of  Plato.''''  Pbrcdnis.  Translated  by  B.  JOWETT,  M.A.,  Master 
of  Baliol  College,  Regius  Professor  of  Greek  in  the  University  of  Oxford. 

t" Faith  and  Free  Thought"  Preface.  By  SAMUEL  WILBERFORCE,  D.D., 
Bishop  of  Winchester. 


31 

the  frightful  ignorance  which  modern  skepticism  rests 
upon  for  its  support,  its  mere  existence  constitutes  a  sort 
of  descensus  averni  from  which  we  ought  to  shrink  with 
all  the  instinct  of  self-preservation,  accompanied  by  a 
due  preponderance  of  pious  horror  and  intensified 
repugnance.  According  to  modern  thought,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  idea  is  rapidly  gaining  ground  that  as 
the  discovery  of  all  truth  is  necessarily  progressive,  so 
there  is  not,  and  cannot  be,  any  such  thing  as  a  divorce, 
or  even  alienation,  between  skepticism  and  progress. 

"  Who  never  doubted  never  half  believed, 
Where  doubt  there  truth  is — 'tis  her  shadow." 

Indeed,  so  rapidly  is  this  feeling  spreading,  and  so 
powerfully  is  it  disseminating  its  influences,  that  we 
scarcely  meet  with  a  person  of  any  intellectual  caliber 
who  has  not  in  some  way  become  touched  by  the 
skeptical  tendency;  and  who,  if  he  does  not  evince  a 
spirit  of  bold  and  candid  skepticism,  at  least  so  far 
qualifies  his  opinions  that  they  amount  virtually  to  the 
same  thing.  "  We  know  accurately  only  when  we  know 
little ;  with  knowledge  doubt  increases."  So  said 
Goethe ;  and  so  says  the  nineteenth  century,  at  least  so 
far  as  a  powerful  and  daily  increasing  number  of  its 
representatives  is  concerned.  J 


JJust  here,  however,  it  may  perhaps  be  as  well  to  observe  that,  although 
modern  skepticism  partakes  necessarily  to  some  extent  of  the  character  of 
Pyrrhonism,  it  at  the  same  time  differs  from  it  in  one  important  particular:  viz., 
that  whereas  the  skepticism  of  Pyrrho  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  nothing  truly 
is,  the  modern  skeptic  merely  doubts  and  questions  the  existing  order  of  things 
the  more  fully  to  arrive  at  the  fundamental  bases  of  truth. 

"He  that  says  nothing  can  be  known,  overthrows 
His  own  opinion,  for  he  nothing  knows, 
So  knows  not  that."  LUCRETIUS. 


32 

Passing  over  from  the  earlier  and  more  rudimentary 
state  of  our  intellectual  development,  we  have  entered 
on  that  condition  when  the  mind  refuses  to  rest  satisfied 
with  the  dicta  of  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  when,  even 
admitting  that  we  have  lost  in  some  directions  through 
the  change  from  credulity  to  incredulity,  it  surely  will 
not  be  denied  that  we  have  gained  considerably  in  the 
cultivation  of  a  spirit  of  earnest  and  fearless  criticism. 
The  change  has  been  gradual,  but  it  is  for  this  reason  no 
less  potent  or  real.  However  much,  therefore,  the  attempt 
may  be  made  in  some  quarters  to  denounce  and  suppress 
the  spirit  of  inquiry  which  is  abroad  at  the  present 
day,  it  is  of  no  avail.  When  once  the  human  mind  has 
been  as  thoroughly  shaken  as  it  has  been  within  the  last 
century,  there  is  no  way  out  of  the  difficulty  but  by 
meeting  the  subject  in  a  manly,  straightforward  manner. 

True  it  may  be  that  we  may  often  wish  we  had, 
like  Theseus,  an  Ariadne  to  help  us  through  the  laby- 
rinth ;  but  even  in  these  moments  of  temporary  depres- 
sion, there  is  no  reason  why  we  should  give  up  the  prob- 
lem in  despair,  or  even  sigh  for  a  return  to  the  simpler 
faith  of  the  world's  childhood.  Born  as  we  are  under  a 
sharper  and  more  invigorating  atmosphere  than  that  of 
preceding  ages,  it  is  well  for  us  to  remember  that  even  if 
we  are  deprived  of  much  of  the  calm  and  sweet  serenity 
.  consequent  on  an  abiding  faith  and  childlike  acceptance 
of  traditional  beliefs,  we  are,  from  the  activity  of  the 
forces  around  us,  more  likely  to  develop  into  a  full  and 
perfect  manhood.  And,  then  again,  there  is  certainly 
some  encouragement  in  the  fact  that  an  intelligent  skepti- 
cisni  is  decidedly  better  than  an  ignorant  superstition. 
In  the  latter,  we  grow  into  a  sort  of  abnormal  condition, 
in  which,  through  the  exaggerated  cultivation  of  our  sen- 


33 

timents  at  the  expense  of  reason,  we  venerate  and 
listen  to  superstition.  In  the  language  of  Southey : 

"  A  nurse's  tale 

Which  children,  open-eyed  and  mouthed,  devour; 
And  thus,  as  garrulous  ignorance  relates, 
We  learn  it  and  believe." 

In  the  former,  even  if  we  do  no  more,  we  rise  at  least  to 
a  better  conception  of  those  constituent  elements  without 
which  progress  is  impossible,  and  through  which  we  are 
enabled,  first  of  all,  to  discover  the  extent  and  quality  of 
our  false  knowledge,  and  then  to  remove  the  evil  accord- 
ing as  reason  and  an  increased  enlightenment  shall 
dictate  the  remedy.  So  far,  then,  from  our  fears  being 
excited  by  this  daily  increasing  spirit  of  skepticism,  it  is 
the  duty  of  every  rational  mind  to  encourage  a  process 
which,  however  painful  it  may  be  to  some,  is  ultimately 
destined  to  be  a  benefit  to  all. 

In  fact,  what  an  eminent  historian  has  said  respecting 
Greece  in  the  time  of  Socrates,  and  the  effect  of  the 
Socratic  principles  upon  the  public  intellect,  §  may  be 
strictly  applied  to  our  modern  civilization,  and  to  the 
consequences  which  this  growing  spirit  of  skepticism  has 
already  produced.  The  feeling  of  hesitancy  and  un- 
certainty lies  at  the  very  basis  of  all  philosophy ;  the 
principles  of  philosophy  at  the  root  of  all  real  and 


§The  Socratic  dialectics,  clearing  away  from  the  mind  its  fancied  knowledge, 
and  laying  bare  the  real  ignorance,  produced  an  immediate  effect  like  the  touch 
of  the  torpedo.  The  newly  created  consciousness  of  ignorance  was  alike  unex- 
pected, painful,  and  humiliating— a  season  of  doubt  and  discomfort,  yet  combined 
with  an  internal  working  and  yearning  after  truth  never  before  experienced. 
Such  intellectual  quickening,  which  could  never  commence  until  the  mind  had 
been  disabused  of  its  original  illusion  of  false  knowledge,  was  considered  by 
Socrates  not  merely  as  the  index  and  precursor,  but  as  the  indispensable  condition 
of  future  progress.—"  d-rote's  History  of  Greece,"  Vol.  VII,  pages  614,  615. 


34 

permanent  advancement.  Without  these  elements  our 
intellectual  life  would  be  a  blank ;  there  could  be  no 
change,  no  progress,  no  civilization.  Who,  therefore,  will 
forbid  a  wise  and  honest  skepticism,  seeing  that  there 
are  necessarily  gradations  and  fluctuations  in  all  our 
ideas  of  truth  ?  Who  will  attempt  the  suppression  of  an 
earnest  and  manly  doubt,  when  the  best  and  wisest  of  us 
but  too  well  know  that  he  who  believes  his  ideas  on 
secular  or  religious  matters  to  be  so  fully  the  truth  that 
there  is  nothing  beyond  is  invariably  made  up  of 
arrogance  and  ignorance,  and  in  every  sense  unfit  to  be  a 
representative  of  the  intellectual  tendency  of  the  present 
age  ?  No  ;  the  movement  has  commenced  ;  and  though 
there  may  be  some  who  willfully  shut  their  eyes  to  the 
increasing  light,  preferring  to  be 

"  The  slaves  of  custom  and  established  mode, 
With  pack-horse  constancy  to  keep  the  road, 
Crooked  or  straight,  through  quags  or  thorny  dells, 
True  to  the  jingling  of  their  leader's  bells," 

there  are  yet  others  for  whom  truth  is  indeed  a  form 
divine : 

"  Her  right  hand  holds  a  sun  with  burning  rays, 
Her  left  a  curious  bunch  of  golden  keys." 

And  thus  it  comes  to  pass  that  the  interrogation  of  cus- 
tom at  all  points  is  an  inevitable  stage  in  the  growth  of 
society,  and  the  strongest  evidence  we  can  have  of  man's 
progressive  nature  ;  the  necessary  condition,  in  fact,  of 
those  alternate  states  of  transition  and  purgation  through 
which  we  are  made  first  of  all  to  discover,  and  then  to 
repudiate,  all  phases  of  error  and  falsehood. 

Eemove  the  possibility  of  skepticism,  and  we  destroy 
the   very   basis  of  progress ;    and  in  place  of  a  world 


85 

wherein  all  life  is  synonymous  with  process  and  change, 
we  reduce  everything  to  a  deplorable  state  of  inaction 
and  torpor,  inevitably  ending  in  decomposition  and  decay. 
But,  says  some  one,  the  world  moves  well  enough,  and 
therefore  we  can  only  regard  the  inroads  of  skepticism  as 
positively  dangerous.     Well ;  there  are  doubtless  many 
who  think  in  this  manner,  and  who  are  unquestionably 
perfectly  sincere  and  honest  in  their  convictions.     Let 
us,  however,  see  how  their  opinions  look  in  the  light  of 
reason  and  common-sense ;  remembering  also  that  such 
a  position  necessitates  two  things  which  no  philosophical 
mind  can  for  a  moment  entertain :  first,  the  altogether 
erroneous   idea  that  truth   derives  its   existence  from 
passive  and  not  active  conditions  ;  and  second,  that  spirit 
of  narrow-mindedness  and   exclusiveness  which  would 
denounce  as  false  and  dangerous  every  opinion  that  does 
not  coincide  with  our  views  :  conditions  which,  it  seems 
to   us,   are   in   themselves   sufficient  to   determine  the 
advantage    or  disadvantage    of   skepticism.      For    the 
purpose,   however,    of  illustrating  this   branch   of  our 
subject  more   clearly,    it  may  be  well  for  us   to   look 
candidly  at  the  condition  of  those  countries  where  the 
spirit  of  skepticism  has  invariably  been  stifled,  and  then 
compare  the  result  with  those  wherein  the  mind  has 
been  allowed  free  action.     To  do  this  the  more  effectu- 
ally, we  will  quote  from  Buckle's  "  History  of  Civiliza- 
tion"  in   England,   a  few  remarks  which  are  strongly 
pertinent  to  the  subject:     "In  Spain,''   says   he,    "the 
Church,  aided  by  the  Inquisition,  has  always  been  strong 
enough  to  punish   skeptical   writers,  and  prevent,  not, 
indeed,  the  existence,  but  the  promulgation,  of  skeptical 
opinions.     By  this  means,   the  spirit  of  doubt  being 
quenched,  knowledge  has  for  several  centuries  remained 


36 

almost  stationary  •  and  civilization,  which  is  the  fruit  of 
knowledge,  has  also  been  stationary.  But  in  England 
and  France,  which,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  are  the  coun- 
tries where  skepticism  first  openly  appeared,  and  where 
it  has  been  most  diffused,  the  results  are  altogether 
different ;  and  the  love  of  inquiry  being  encouraged, 
there  has  arisen  that  constantly  progressive  knowledge 
to  which  these  two  great  nations  owe  their  prosperity." 

And  this  is  true ;  for  the  more  thoroughly  we  examine 
into  the  nature  of  skepticism,  the  more  clearly  we 
shall  see  that  it  is  the  necessary  accompaniment,  and,  to 
a  very  great  extent,  the  cause,  of  every  progressive  move- 
ment in  our  moral  and  intellectual  life.  The  prejudice 
which  attaches  to  the  term,  and  which  is  especially 
strong  in  the  least  cultivated  minds,  is,  after  all,  a  matter 
of  no  importance.  It  is  by  its  consequences  that  it 
must  be  judged.  Anything  short  of  this  is  not  only  a 
fallacious  mode  of  reasoning,  it  is  also  the  quintessence 
of  ignorance  and  prejudice. 

And  then,  again,  as  an  additional  means  of  answering 
our  anti-skeptical  friend,  and  especially  so  supposing 
him  to  be  a  conscientious  religionist,  it  is  well  to  bear  in 
mind  that  the  skeptical  tendencies  of  the  present  day  are 
to  a  very  great  extent  the  legitimate  results  of  Prot- 
estantism ;  Protestantism,  it  may  be,  more  directly 
related  to  the  learned  and  polished  Erasmus  than  to  the 
enthusiastic  and  inspiring  Luther ;  but  still  the  natural 
consequence  of  that  tone  of  thought  and  spirit  of 
freedom  which,  beginning  with  a  protest  against  the 
abuse  of  the  sale  of  indulgences,  has  gradually  been 
gaining  in  strength,  and  extending  its  sphere  of  action. 
Of  course,  if  we  hold,  with  the  Eomish  Church,  that  the 
Reformation  was  an  evil,  and  that  the  impetus  it  gave  to. 


37 

the  human  mind  was  altogether  in  the  wrong  direction, 
then  we  become  consistent  in  our  opposition  to  anything 
and  everything  which  indicates  or  encourages  a  freer  and 
fuller  development  of  our  intellectual  capacities.  Not 
so,  however,  as  Protestants.  The  right  to  protest  once 
necessitates  the  right  to  protest  again  and  again  ;  and  so  on, 
as  frequently  as  occasion  may  demand,  and  ne'w  ideas 
require  new  forms  of  expression.! 

To  accomplish  this  is  the  function  of  skepticism.  In 
one  sense,  it  may  be  denned  as  a  general  and  con- 
current action  among  a  certain  class  of  minds  who,  for 
the  time  being,  rise  above  the  prejudices  of  their  age ; 
in  another,  it  is  an  open  and  avowed  proclamation  in 
favor  of  the  supremacy  of  reason,  and  the  reasonable- 
ness of  reasoning.  Certainly  in  this  character  it  is  not, 
as  some  would  have  us  believe,  a  monster  of  unpropitious 
birth ;  or,  as  more  frequently  represented,  a  destructive 
fiend  whose  very  presence  "  strikes  an  awe  and  terror  to 
my  aching  sight," 

In  its  central  conception,  it  is  the  elevation  of  our 
noblest  faculty  into  a  field  of  legitimate  exercise  and 
development.  In  its  last  analysis,  it  is  a  sublime  realiza- 
tion of  Sir  William  Hamilton's  sentiment :  "  On  earth 
there  is  nothing  great  but  man ;  in  man  there  is  nothing 
great  but  mind."  But  it  may  still  be  urged  that,  even 
if  we  admit  the  fact,  and  acknowledge  skepticism  to 


ill  "  The  Protestant  Reformers,  in  transferring  their  allegiance  from  the  Church  to 
the  word  of  God,  practically  asserted  a  right  of  private  judgment.  Their  proceed- 
ing was  founded  on  a  subjective,  personal  conviction.  Deny  to  the  individual  this 
ultimate  prerogative  of  deciding  where  authority  in  matters  of  religion  is  right- 
fully placed,  and  then  what  the  acknowledged  rule  of  faith  means,  and  their  whole 
movement  becomes  indefensible,  irrational.  Hence,  intellectual  liberty,  freedom 
of  thought  and  inquiry,  was  a  conseqence  of  the  Reformation  that  could  not  fail 
to  be  eventually  realized.'1— History  of  the  Reformation,  by  GEO.  P.  FISHER, 
D.D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  in  Yale  College. 


38 

be  the  inevitable  accompaniment  of  civilization  and 
cause  of  progress,  there  still  remains'  another  point  at 
issue :  viz.,  that  as  it  is  no  easier  to  subdue  the  baser 
parts  of  our  nature  in  the  nineteenth  century  than  it 
was  in  the  first  or  second,  our  boasted  accumulation  of 
wisdom,  and  increased  intellectual  activity,  are  of  no 
practical  benefit  In  fact,  that  even  while  we  pursue 
knowledge  as  the  summum  bonum  of  human  life,  there 
are  still  moments  when  we  are  compelled  to  feel 
that,  in  the  earlier  ages  of  the  world,  and  especially 
with  reference  to  the  primal  glory  of  Christianity,  there 
existed  an  all-pervading  atmosphere  of  trust  in  and 
childlike  reliance  on  a  superior  Power,  the  loss  of 
which  more  than  counterbalances  our  improvement 
in  other  directions.  Certainly  the  assertion  is  a  natural 
one,  and  at  the  same  time  possesses  a  considerable 
element  of  truth.  Indeed,  it  may  unhesitatingly  be  said 
that  *it  is  a  subject  which  every  thoughtful  mind  is 
compelled  more  or  less  to  recognize.  In  our  moments 
of  deepest  and  most  earnest  reflection,  it  causes  us  to 
pause,  to  weigh  more  carefully  the  phases  of  thought 
coming  up  for  our  consideration,  to  enter  more  fully 
into  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  as  nearly  as  possible 
to  determine  where  we  are  drifting.  In  other  words,  it  is 
even  possible  in  our  prof oundest  moments  to  enter  so  far 
within  the  kernel  of  our  spiritual  consciousness  as  to 
realize  the  exquisite  beauty  of  that  faith  which  could 
produce  a  St  Francis,  and  which  in  its  most  sublimated 
form,  enables  every  devotional  spirit  to  catch  its  highest 
and  brightest  glimpses  of  the  Infinite. 

"  Like  earth,  awake,  and  warm,  and  bright 
With  joy  the  spirit  moves  and  burns; 
So  up  to  thee,   O   Fount  of  Light, 
Our  light  returns." 


39 

Certainly  it  is  a  beautiful  sentiment,  and  one  which 
elevates  the  drooping  spirit  into  an  atmosphere  wherein 
the  conditions  are  exquisitely  pure  and  invigorating. 

"  Niglit  is  the  time  to  pray : 

Our  Saviour  oft  withdrew 
To  desert  mountains  far  away;    - 

So  will  his  followers  do; 
Steal  from  the  throng  to  haunts  untrod, 
And  commune  there  alone  with  God." 

Or,  again,  to  pass  from  Montgomery  to  Bailey's  Festus : 

"Any  heart  turn'd  Godward  feels  more  joy 
In  one  shor^hour  of  prayer  than  e'er  was  rais'd 
By  all  the  feasts  on  earth  since  their  foundation." 

Here,  however,  the  thoughtful  man  comes  necessarily  to 
a  pause  ;  and,  in  so  doing,  discovers,  not  only  that  human 
nature  is  not  all  sentiment,  but  also  that,  as  in  the  case 
of  St.  Francis,  the  reaction  from  the  sensualism  of 
Pompeii  produced  an  extreme  measure  of  spirituality 
which  we  can  only  consider  an  abnormal  condition ;  so 
in  the  last  analysis  of  this  devotional  spirit  we  are  com- 
pelled to  assign  to  it  a-  static  and  not  a  dynamic 'con- 
dition. 

Says  Mr.  Froude  :  "  Submissiveness,  humility,  obedi- 
ence, produce,  if  uncorrected,  in  politics,  a  nation  of 
slaves  whose  baseness  becomes  an  incentive  to  tyranny  ; 
in  religion,  they  produce  the  consecration  of  falsehood, 
poperies,  immaculate  conceptions,  winking  images,  and 
the  confessional.  The  spirit  of  inquiry,  if  left  to  itself, 
becomes  in  like  manner  a  disease  of  uncertainty,  and 
terminates  in  universal  skepticism.  It  seems  as  if,  in  a 
healthy  order  of  things,  to  the  willingness  to  believe 
there  should  be  chained  as  its  inseparable  companion  a 


40 

jealousy  of  deception ;  and  there  is  no  lesson  more 
important  for  serious  persons  to  impress  upon  themselves 
than  that  each  of  these  temperaments  must  learn  to 
tolerate  the  other;  faith  accepting  from  reason  the 
sanction  of  its  service,  and  reason  receiving  in  return 
the  warm  pulsations  of  life.  The  two  principles  exist 
together  in  the  highest  natures  ;  and  the  man  who,  in  the 
best  sense  of  the  word,  is  devout  is  also  the  most 
cautious  to  whom  or  to  what  he  pays  his  devotion.  "T 
And  so  it  really  is ;  toleration  being  an  indispensable 
ingredient  in  every  form  of  honest  and  philosophical 
doubt. 

Nor  is  skepticism  an  evil,  as  is  popularly  supposed, 
when  applied  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  Chris- 
tianity. According  to  its  views  in  this  respect,  religion 
forms  no  exception  to  the  general  law  of  progress ;  for 
although  it  seems  inevitable  that  the  religious  ideas  of 
one  age  should  become  in  a  certain  sense  the  poetry  of 
the  next — flickering,  as  it  were,  in  an  expiring  beauty 
on  the  horizon  of  the  past — yet  with  reference  to  the 
cardinal  principles  of  Christianity  it  recognizes  them  as 
possessing  a  power  and  beauty  more  and  more  capable 
of  realization  as  the  human  mind  passes  into  new  phases, 
and  thus  approaches  nearer  to  a  spiritualized  conception, 
and  an  enlarged  application  of  its  beneficent  influences, 
its  sublime  teachings,  its  comprehensive  and  ennobling 
views  of  human  progress.  In  fact,  it  may  in  all  truth 
be  said  that  this  spirit  of  toleration  which  a  truly 
philosophical  skepticism  necessitates  runs  in  a  strictly 
parallel  line  with  that  world  of  tolerance  transfigured 


If  "Shwt  Studies  oa  Great  Subjects, "  by  JAMES  ANTHONY  FROUDE,  M.A. 
''Essay  and  Criticism  on  the  Gospel  History." 


41 

into  human  love  which  lies  at  the  very  basis  of  Chris- 
tianity. And  here  we  rest  the  grounds  of  relationship 
between  skepticism  and  the  devotional  side  of  our 
nature.  As  has  been  said :  "  The  moral  element  of 
Christianity  is  as  the  sun  in  heaven,  and  dogmatic 
systems  are  as  the  clouds  that  intercept  and  temper 
the  exceeding  brightness  of  its  ray.  The  insect,  whose 
existence  is  but  for  a  moment,  might  well  imagine  that 
these  were  indeed  eternal,  that  their  majestic  columns 
could  never  fail,  and  that  their  luminous  folds  were  the 
very  source  and  center  of  light.  And  yet  they  shift  and 
vary  with  each  changing  breeze ;  they  blend  and  sep- 
arate ;  they  assume  new  forms  and  exhibit  new  dimen- 
sions ;  as  the  sun  that  is  above  them  waxes  more 
glorious  in  its  power,  they  are  permeated  and  at  last 
absorbed  by  its  increasing  splendor;  they  recede,  and 
wither,  and  disappear,  and  the  eye  ranges  far  beyond 
the  sphere  they  had  occupied  into  the  infinity  of  glory 
that  is  above  them."*  In  the  process  of  transition 
which  skepticism  necessitates,  we  certainly  will  (as  has 
been  already  said)  have  cause  again  and  again  to 
exclaim,  in  the  language  of  Mrs.  Hemans  : 

"  A  thousand  thoughts  of  all  things  dear 

Like  shadows  o'er  me  sleep, 

I  leave  my  sunny  childhood  here — 

Oh,  therefore  let  me  weep  ! " 

Yet  such  are  the  conditions  which  the  law  of  progress 
renders  inevitable. 

All  through  the  entire  range  of  human  history  this 
has  been  the  case  ;  this  gradual  remodeling  of  sentiment 


*  "  History  of  (he  Rise  and  Influence  of  the  Spirit  of  Rationalism  in  Europe," 
by  W.  E.  II.  LECKY,  M.A, 


42 

through  the  analytical  action  of  reason.  As  it  has  been, 
so  it  is,  and  will  continue  to  be.  Like  Thales,  we  may 
at  times  fall  into  a  pit  while  gazing  at  the  stars ;  and 
like  him,  too,  we  may  experience  the  mortification  of 
being  mocked  by  ignorant  and  garrulous  old  women. 
But  even  should  this  be  the  case,  it  matters  not.  The 
skepticism  which  can  be  daunted  by  trifles  such  as 
these,  if  fairly  tested,  will  be  found  to  amount  to  nothing 
more  than  a  species  of  shallow  egotism,  differing  for  the 
sake  of  being  different,  rather  than  that  conscientious 
and  fearless  love  of  truth  without  which  there  can  be  no 
such  thing  as  philosophical  doubt,  no  form  of  skepticism 
that  is  not  a  miserable  sham — no  better  than  the  error  or 
imposture  which  it  seeks  to  supplant,  Not  so,  however, 
the  spirit  of  honest  doubt  and  earnest  inquiry  which  we 
conceive  as  the  legitimate  form  of  skepticism,  and  which, 
from  the  keenness  of  its  intellectual  vision,  but  too  well 
knows  that  the  maximum  of  human  power  consists  in  its 
ability  to  scrutinize  carefully  each  fragment  of  evidence, 
to  study  closel}',  to  generalize  slowly  and  thoughtfully, 
to  think  reverently  and  philosophically;  and,  in  so  doing, 
to  realize  gradually  the  truth  of  Tacitus'  remark  that 
"  Truth  is  brought  to  light  by  time  and  reflection,  while 
falsehood  gathers  strength  from  precipitation  and  bustle." 
In  one  sense,  therefore,  although  the  functions  of  skepti- 
cism are  to  some  extent  those  of  a  destructive  agent,  it 
is  equally  true  that,  its  existence  being  derived  from 
the  progressive  tendency  of  man's  nature,  it  is  the 
legitimate  product  of  our  advanced  civilization,  and  not 
the  result  of  an  unnatural  and  diseased  condition,  as  is 
sometimes  represented.  "If  to  philosophize  be  right, 
we  must  philosophize  to  realize  the  right ;  if  to  philoso- 
phize be  wrong,  we  must  philosophize  to  manifest  the 


43 

wrong;  on  any  alternative,  therefore,  philosophize  we 
must."  So  said  Aristotle  of  philosophy;  and  the  mode 
of  reasoning  is  equally  applicable  to  skepticism.  In  the 
one  case,  as  in  the  other,  the  principles  are  determined 
by  that  inherent  tendency  in  the  human  mind  which 
impels  us  ever  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge,  and  which 
in  rendering  philosophy  a  necessity  gives  also  a  similar 
position  to  that  skeptical  tendency  or  attitude  of  doubt 
without  which  philosophy  would  be  impossible. 

Or,  again,  as  Lessing  has  beautifully  expressed  it: 
"  Did  the  Almighty,  holding,  in  his  right  hand,  Truth, 
and,  in  his  left,  Search  after  Truth,  deign  to  proffer  me 
the  one  I  might  prefer,  in  all  humility,  but  without 
hesitation,  I  should  request  Search  after  Truth."  In 
the  world  of  mind,  as  in  in  the  world  of  matter,  there 
can  be  no  life  where  there  are  no  energizing  and  active 
influences  at  work.  We  exist  as  men  only  as  we 
think  as  men.  In  this  connection,  surely  no  one  will 
deny  that  the  power  to  think  implies  the  right  to 
doubt ;  in  fact,  that  besides  their  being  in  the  strictest 
sense  correlated,  the  existence  of  the  one  is  inconceivable 
without  the  existence  of  the  other.  In  other  words,  the 
normal  state  of  development  being  that  of  process  and 
change,  skepticism  is  to  civilization  what  the  forces  of 
action  and  reaction  are  to  the  material  world.  In  either 
case,  the  object  is  the  preservation  of  an  equilibrium,  the 
perpetuity  of  certain  principles  upon  which  all  life,  physi- 
cal and  psychical,  depends,  and,  finally,  the  preclusion  of 
that  stagnant  condition  from  which  the  mind  instinctively 
recoils.  Or,  again,  to  reduce  the  whole  subject  to  a 
simile  which  is  by  no  means  inapplicable:  Life  to 
Endymion  was  no  better  than  death.  Without  skepti- 
cism, and  the  spirit  of  intellectual  activity  which  it 


44 

engenders,  society  would  be  no  better  than  the  youthful 
Endymion  lost  in  a  perpetual  sleep.  Or,  in  the  last 
place,  to  say  with  Hamlet : 

"  What  is  a  man, 

If   his  chief  good  and  market  of  his  time 
Be  but  to  sleep  and  feed?  a  beast,  no  more. 
Sure,  he  that  made  us  with  such  large  discourse, 
Looking  before  and  after,  gave  us  not 
That  capability  and  god-like  reason 
To  fust  in  us  unus'd." 

It  is  true  that,  in  following  this  principle  to  its  logical 
consequences,  we  will  in  many  instances  find  ourselves 
reduced  to  a  condition  of  intellectual  nakedness;  but 
even  this  is  better  than  the  most  superb  and  costly  dress 
of  error.  Learn  what  is  true  in  order  to  do  what  is 
right ;  this  is  the  aim  and  purpose  of  the  wise  man.  It 
is  the  last  analysis  of  reason,  and  the  dictate  also  of 
common-sense.  It  is  the  result  of  incessant  thought 
and  severe  intellectual  Discipline.  It  is,  in  short,  accord- 
ing to  Goethe,  "  the  active  skepticism  whose  whole  aim 
is  to  conquer  itself ; "  and  not  that  other  spurious  sort 
whose  characteristics  are  flippancy  and  conceit,  and  whose 
aim,  consisting  in  a  desire  merely  to  perpetuate  itself 
without  any  regard  to  the  ultimate  goal  of  truth,  ought 
only  to  be  deplored,  and  not  encouraged. 

Says  the  founder  of  the  Cartesian  philosophy,  after 
describing  the  gradual  process  of  his  negative  criticism, 
and  under  a  due  appreciation  of  the  difference  between 
a  genuine  and  a  spurious  skepticism:  "For  all  that,  I  did 
not  imitate  the  skeptics,  who  doubt  only  for  doubt's 
sake,  and  pretend  to  be  always  undecided ;  on  the  con- 
trary, my  whole  intention  was  to  arrive  at  certainty,  and 


45 

to  dig  away  the  drift  and  the  sand  until  I  reached  the 
rock  or  the  clay  beneath." 

Philosophically  considered,  it  seems,  therefore,  almost 
like  a  truism  to  assert  that  skepticism  is  a  condition  of 
progress ;  and  that  in  its  action  there  is  a  positive  as  well 
as  a  negative  side  to  be  considered. 

So  long  as  we  recognize  the  existence  and  supremacy 
of  mind,  skepticism  is  not  only  a  condition,  it  is  also  a 
necessity.  Eational,  philosophical  doubt,  however,  is  one 
thing ;  irrational,  superficial  doubt  quite  another. 

"Sands  form  the  mountain,  moments  make  the  year." 
So  said  Young  in  his  appreciation  of  the  stupendous 
works  of  time,  and  the  principle  is  equally  applicable  to 
the  process  of  our  intellectual  growth ;  a  principle  of 
gradual  accumulation,  which,  it  will  be  easily  seen, 
makes  skepticism  indispensable  as  a  condition  of  pro- 
gress, while  it  also  gives  an  additional  emphasis  to  the 
Italian  proverb,  "He  who  knows  nothing  doubts  of 
nothing."  Skepticism  and  curiosity  are  the  great  springs 
of  knowledge. 

In  conclusion,  therefore,  the  spirit  of  .the  age  being  a 
spirit  of  inquiry,  we  are  not  for  this  reason  warranted 
in  supposing,  as  some  would  have  us  believe,  that  it  is 
the  result  of  a  feverish  excitement,  an  unnatural  and 
delirious  condition.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  the  returning 
glory  of  that  intellectual  empire  whose  power  and 
beauty  having  temporarily  departed  with  the  decline  of 
Grecian  culture,  reappears  on  the  horizon,  giving  us 
promise  of  a  brighter  day;  while  it  also  indicates  an 
enlarged  and  growing  appreciation  of  that  truth  so  beau- 
tifully and  so  powerfully  expressed  by  Sophocles  in  his 
Antigone  : 

"  Reason,  my  father,  by  the  gods  is  given 
To  men,  the  noblest  treasure  we  can  boast." 


46 


ANCIENT  FAITH  AND  MODERN  CULTURE. 


ADMITTING,  as  we  must,  if  we  are  candid  with  our- 
selves, that,  in  many  respects,  the  prevalent  idea  of 
education  is  scarcely  in  advance  of  that  spirit  of 
sophistry  which  Socrates  so  forcibly  and  effectually 
denounced,  it  cannot,  at  the  same  time,  be  denied  that 
there  exists  also  a  large  class  whose  sentiments  decidedly 
favor  a  revival  of  the  Socratic  spirit,  at  least  so  far  as  its 
search  after  principles  is  concerned ;  a  disposition,  in  fact, 
which,  because  it  is  so  deeply  imbued  with  the  elements 
of  rationalism,  necessarily  separates  many  of  the  deepest 
and  most  earnest  thinkers  of  the  present  day  from  those 
earlier  forms  of  faith  so  heartily  venerated  by  their 
cotemporaries,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  inseparable  from 
the  spiritual  life  of  our  ancestors.  Or,  to  express  the 
same  subject  in  another  form :  The  modern  mind  has 
become  deeply  impressed  with  the  idea  that  the  world 
moves  intellectually,  as  well  as  physically,  and  that,  as  a 
consequence  of  this  motion,  it  is  not  only  incumbent  on  us 
to  cultivate  in  an  individual  sense  the  spirit  of  restless- 
ness and  intellectual  discipline  alluded  to  in  the  preced- 
ing chapter,  but  also  to  .  embody  it  in  a  general  or 
universal  sense  under  the  form  of  Culture.  On  the  one 
hand  "there  is  the  church,  with  its  ecclesiastical  usages ; 


47 

its  Sunday  school  for  the  children  ;  its  devotional  meet- 
ings in  the  week,  and  its  Sunday  teaching  and  worship — 
all  acknowledged  as  good  for  those  who  like  them,  and 
are  willing  to  accept  what  people  thought  or  believed 
was  true  a  hundred  years  ago."  On  the  other,  there  is 
this  rationalistic  and  progressive  spirit  to  which  we  have 
referred ;  and  whose  influences,  however  much  they  may 
be  mis-understood  or  underestimated  now,  are,  neverthe- 
less, destined  to  make  a  forcible  and  lasting  impression 
on  the  civilization  of  the  future.  Besting  as  it  does  on 
the  basis  of  a  scientific  interpretation  of  human  nature, 
and  rebelling  against  that  commonly  received  theological 
estimate  whereby  an  intelligent  progress  of  culture  is 
supplanted  by  a  miraculous  transformation  of  grace,  it 
not  only  repudiates  the  idea  of  progress  through  the 
assistance  of  ecclesiastical  nostrums,  crutches  and  ambu- 
lances, but  also  insists  upon  a  general  recognition  of 
natural  laws,  in  place  of  miraculous  interpositions  and 
special  dispensations  of  grace;  which  are,  after  all,  nothing 
but  the  outgrowth  of  our  intense  egotism  and  ignorance. 
True  it  may  be,  as  Mr.  Tylor  has  remarked  in  his 
admirable  work  on  "Primitive  Culture,"  that  "the  world 
at  large  is  scarcely  prepared  to  accept  the  general  study 
of  human  life  as  a  branch  of  natural  science,  and  to 
carry  out  in  a  large  sense  the  poet's  injunction  to 
'account  for  moral  as  for  natural  things.'  "  Certainly,  to 
the  "world  at  large,"  this  is  the  case;  and  is  likely  to  be 
for  some  time  to  come.  If,  however,  we  are  prepared  to 
enter  more  fully  into  an  examination  of  what  the  "world 
at  large  "  really  means,  we  shall  most  certainly  discover 
that  this  dissentient  spirit  is  largely,  if  not  entirely,  due 
to  the  existence  of  a  certain  amount  of  mental  imbecility, 
rendering  possible  a  belief  in  causeless  freaks,  chance, 


48 

nonsense,  and  indefinite  unaccountability.  Occasionally 
there  may  be  some  honorable  exceptions,  whose  opposi- 
tion is  the  result  of  a  philosophic  caution;  but  these, 
"like  angel's  visits,  are  few  and  far  between;"  while 
with  the  majority,  it  is,  indeed,  true,  as  Cicero  has  ex- 
pressed it:  "The  common  rabble  estimate  few  things 
according  to  their  real  value ;  most  things  according  to 
the  prejudices  of  their  mind."  A  sentiment  which  has 
lately  been  demonstrated  to  a  considerable  extent  in  the 
treatment  bestowed  upon  Darwin's  "  Descent  of  Man ;  " 
and  according  to  which  the  scientific  argument  has  been 
altogether  swallowed  up  in  that  feeling  of  popular 
arrogance  which  not  only  refuses  to  test  the  subject  in 
the  clear,  dispassionate  light  of  reason,  but  also  would 
regard  all  Darwinists  either  as  apes  themselves,  or,  at 
least,  as  advocates  of  a  dark  and  portentous  theory 
unworthy  of  our  position  as  men,  and  bidding  fair  to 
annihilate  every  lofty  aspiration,  and  every  worthy  con- 
ception of ,  human  destiny.  Is,  however,  this  position  a 
reasonable  one  ;  and  is  there  anything  so  very  monstrous 
in  the  mode  of  reasoning  which,  in  pursuing  our  gene- 
alogy, refuses  to  stop  short  at  "  who  was  the  son  of 
Adam  ;  "  but  carries  it  back  a  step  further  to  "  who  was 
the  son  of  a  monkey  ?  "  Certainly  the  answer,  to  every 
enlightened  mind,  must  necessarily  be  in  favor  of  Dar- 
winism, and  opposed  to  the  arrogant  prejudice  which 
would  cling  to  the  nearly  obsolete  idea  of  an  angelic 
parentage,  instead  of  considering  the  subject  under  the 
light  of  an  unbroken  line  of  continuity,  and  a  gradually 
ascending  process  in  the  scale  of  creation.  Nor  is  it 
when  we  look  at  some  few  of  the  results  which  Darwinism 
produces  that  we  find  that  moral  chaos  which  has  fre- 
quenty  been  predicted  as  its  inevitable  consequence. 


49 

Even  as  a  Darwinian,  no  sane  man  believes  for  a  moment 
that  there  is  no  beauty  in  a  virtuous  and  moral  life ;  nor 
that  property  is  any  the  less  sacred  because  it  may  have 
originated  in  mere  physical  force ;  nor  even  that  religion 
is  less  worthy  of  thoughtful  consideration  and  respect 
because  in  its  earlier  forms,  as  an  outgrowth  of  savage 
life,  it  bears  the  same  relationship  to  our  civilized  con- 
ceptions that  astrology  does  to  astronomy,  or  alchemy  to 
chemistry.  No ;  in  this  respect,  the  fact  is  that  as  with 
culture,  so  with  Darwinism.  Men  outgrow  the  ideas  of 
their  childhood;  and  as  they  ask  for  some  broader 
and  more  comprehensive  basis  on  which  to  rest  their 
opinions,  and  from  which  to  start  in  their  method  of 
reasoning  for  the  future,  so  do  they  necessarily  meet 
with  opposition  from  those  stagnant  forces  which  have 
lain  like  an  incubus  on  the  world  for  years ;  and  which, 
whatever  the  weight  of  their  authority,  are  in  the  end 
compelled  to  be  discarded,  their  influence  neutralized, 
and  the  world  made  wiser  and  better  for  their  loss. 

As  an  example  of  this,  we  can  easily  understand  how 
it  was  that,  at  an  earlier  period  of  our  history,  it  was 
believed,  with  as  much  genuineness  as  persons  believed 
in  their  own  consciousness,  that  all  disinterested  love,  and 
all  beauty  of  thought  and  sentiment,  would  leave  the 
world,  should  it  be  made  to  appear  that  it  is  riot  literally 
true  that  we  are  the  descendants  of  a  man  and  woman 
who  were  turned  out  of  Paradise  for  following  the 
instructions  of  a  talkative  serpent.  Indeed,  as  it  has 
been  well  said :  "  Even  the  statement  that  it  might  be  an 
allegory,  instead  of  an  historical  record,  nearly  frightened 
our  prosaic  ancestors  out  of  their  wits."  According  to 
their  mistaken  but  conscientious  opinion  :  "  Remove  one 
brick  from  the  cunningly-adjusted  fabric  of  orthodoxy, 


50 

prove  that  a  line  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  was  erroneous, 
and*  God  would  vanish  from  the  world,  heaven  and  hell 
become  empty  names,  all  motives  for  doing  good  be 
removed,  and  the  earth  become  a  blank  and  dreary  wilder- 
ness." Like  all  false  methods  of  reasoning,  however,  the 
result  has  contradicted  the  prediction  ;  and  the  course  of 
human  progress,  although  in  some  respects  Sisyphean  in 
its  character,  still  moves  on  in  obedience  to  that  law  of 
intellectual  and  moral  development  whereby  each  gene- 
ration finds  itself  in  advance  of  the  past : 

"That  each  to-morrow 
Finds  us  further  than  to  day." 

And  here  we  come  to  the  direct  cause  of  that  difference 
and  apparent  antagonism  betwen  ancient  faith  and 
modern  culture,  which  forms  the  subject  of  the  present 
chapter,  and  which  is  so  clearly  visible  to  any  one  who 
will  examine  for  a  moment  the  tendency  of  the  present 
age.  In  fact,  that  peculiar  form  of  intellectual  vigor  and 
activity  which  we  may  not  improperly  define  as  the  con- 
sciousness of"  the  age ;  and  from  which  it  follows,  as  a 
necessary  consequence,  that,  in  proportion  as  society 
becomes  permeated  by  the  influences  of  modern  thought, 
just  so  surely,  will  the  relics  of  medievalism,  now  so 
prevalent,  become  gradually  weaker,  and  ultimately 
obsolete :  the  discussion  of  "  how  many  angels  can  dance 
on  the  point  of  a  needle,"  giving  place  to  the  more 
rational  task  of  discovering  nature's  laws,  and  tlieir 
relationship  to  man  as  a  member  of  the  genus  homo. 
Not  that,  in  this  sense,  there  will  be  any  necessity  to 
deny  the  existence  of  what  we  now  call  the  supernatural  ; 
but  that,  in  the  enlargement  of  our  views,  the  natural 
will  have  extended  its  dominion  to  the  sphere  of  the 


51 

supernatural ;  and  all  things  be  reduced  to  that  harmo 
nious  action  of  law  and  -order  which  alone  gives  us  a 
worthy  conception  of  nature  as'  the  effect,  and  God  as 
the  cause.  Or,  in  other  words  :  When  the  scientific  spirit, 
instead  of  debasing  our  ideas  and  enslaving  us,  as  is 
sometimes  said,  in  the  search  for  men  with  tails,  shall 
have  given  us  a.  fabric  of  truth,  possessing,  like  the 
Grecian  Aphrodite,  a  two  fold  character — ndvd^^oa?  as 
expressing  its  function  in  a  general  sense;  Ovpctvia,  as 
especially  related  to  the  higher  instincts  of  man's  nature — 
his  spiritual  aspirations,  and  the  nobler  development  of 
his  faculties. 

But  to  return  to  that  feeling  of  terror  with  which  some 
persons  regard  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  which  causes 
them  to  anticipate  nothing  but  the  most  deplorable 
consequences  from  the  encroachments  of  modern  culture 
— consequences,  indeed,  which  it  is  customary  for  our 
theologians  to  denounce  as  leading  to  the  destruction  of 
the  religious  sentiment,  the  inauguration  of  an  atheism 
laden  with  iniquity  and  subject  to  no  moral  restraint-*— 
we  can  only  say  that,  in  this  respect,'  the  more  thoughtful 
we  are,  the  more  careful  will  we  be  not  to  commit 
ourselves  to  any  such  hasty  and  unwarrantable  con- 
clusion. At  least  we  will  be  entitled  to  demand  from 
our  opponents  what  they  understand  to  be  the  constituent 
elements  of  religion  and  morality ;  and,  according  to 
their  answer,  determine  how  far  they  are,  or  are  not, 
competent  to  decide  upon  the  subject.  For  them,  it  may 
be  but  the  echo  of  that  narrow  and  exclusive  spirit 
which  has  nothing  but  hostile  zeal  to  lavish  upon 
Brahmanism,  Buddhism,  Zoroastrism,  and  all  other  phases 
of  religious  or  ethical  thought  not  identical  with  their 
own.  For  us,  we  may  prefer,  as  we  most  certainly  shall, 


52 

the  comprehensiveness  of  Baring  Gould,  denning  the 
motive  force  in  religion  to  be  "  the  stretching  toward  some 
spiritual  aim  which  we  call  truth."  Or,  as  he  remarks  in 
another  place,  and  where  he  certainly  expresses  in  the 
clearest  manner  the  modern  idea,  that  the  essence  remains, 
although  the  forms  of  its  expression  are  subject  to  varia- 
tion and  change :  "  The  world,  in  all  ages,  has  teemed 
with  religious  beliefs  of  the  most  diverse  forms  of  cere- 
monial expression,  strongly  contrasting  in  system  and 
opposed  in  dogma.  Here  the  priest  smears  with  human 
blood  the  idol  which  will  be  overthrown  on  the  morrow 
by  the  missionary  of  another  creed.  The  gods  of  one 
nation  are  the  devils  of  their  neighbors.  Here  fathers 
pass  their  children  through  fire  to  a  god ;  and  here  men 
shelter  and  feed  orphans  as  a  work  acceptable  to  their 
deity.  These  transfix  their  flesh  with  skewers,  and  those 
indulge  in  every  lust,  and  both  from  a  religious  motive. 
One  worships  an  ideal  of  beauty ;  another  an  ideal  of 
ugliness.  Jacob  leans  on  his  staff  to  pray ;  Moses  falls 
flat  on  his  face :  the  Catholic  bows  his  knee,  and  the 
Protestant  settles  into  a  seat."f  Or,  again,  for  them  it 
may  be  an  assent  to  the  Thirty -nine  articles  of  the  Epis- 
copal church;  or,  perchance,  an  endorsement  of  the 
dogma  of  the  Pope's  infalibility ;  while  for  us,  it  may  be 
that  truly  liberal  and  strictly  philosophic  definition  as 
given  by  Max  Miiller,  and  which,  from  its  exquisite 
beauty  and  force  of  expression,  we  quote  at  length :  "It 
was  supposed  at  one  time  that  a  comparative  analysis  of 
fhe  languages  of  mankind  must  transcend  the  powers  of 
man  ;  and  yet,  by  the  combined  and  well-directed  efforts 
of  many  scholars,  great  results  have  been  obtained,  and 

t  "  Origin  and  Development,  of  Religious  Kelief,"  by  S.  B.  GOULD,  M.A. 


53 

the  principles  that  must  guide  the  student  of  the  science 
of  language  are  now  firmly  established.  It  will  be  the 
same  with  the  science  of  religion.  By  a  proper  division 
of  labor,  the  materials  that  are  still  wanting  will  be 
collected  and  published  and  translated ;  and  when  that 
is  done,  surely  man  will  never  rest  until  he  has  dis- 
covered the  purpose  that  runs  through  the  religions  of 
mankind,  and  till  he  has  reconstructed  the  true  Civitas 
Dei  on  foundations  as  wide  as  the  ends  of  the  world. 
The  science  of  religion  may  be  the  last  of  the  sciences 
which  man  is  destined  to  elaborate;  but  when  it  is 
elaborated,  it  will  change  the  aspect  of  the  world,  and 
give  a  new  life  to  Christianity  itself.";}: 

In  this  connection,  too,  it  is  gratifying  and  encourag- 
ing to  us  to  discover  that,  even  as  far  back  as  the  second 
century,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  and  Justin  Martyr,  both 
advocated,  with  manly  courage  and  remarkable  ability, 
this  very  doctrine  of  liberality  and  universality  for  which 
we  moderns  are  now  contending  so  earnestly  ;  and  which 
we  cannot  otherwise  than  regard  as  the  fundamental 
basis  of  all  our  ideas  respecting  religion  and  its  relation- 
ship to  those  other  educational  influences  classified 
under  the  comprehensive  term,  culture.  Upon  this  sub- 
ject, says  Clement  of  Alexandria :  "  God  is  the  cause  of 
all  that  is  good.  Only,  of  some  good  gifts,  he  is  the 
primary  cause — as  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  ;  of 
others,  the  secondary — as  of  (Greek)  philosophy.  But 
even  philosophy  may  have  been  given  primarily  by  him 
to  the  Greeks  :  before  the  Lord  had  called  the  Greeks 
also.  For  that  philosophy,  like  a  schoolmaster,  has 
guided  the  Greeks  also,  as  the  Law  did  Israel,  toward 


"  Chips  from  a  German  Workshop"  by  MAX  MULLKB,  M.A. 


54 

Christ."  §  And  again  :  "  It  is  clear  that  the  same  God  to 
whom  we  owe  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  gave  also  to 
the  Greeks  their  Greek  philosophy,  by  which  the 
Almighty  is  glorified  among  the  Greeks."  j  In  a  similar 
manner,  although  somewhat  more  powerfully,  also  speaks 
Justin  Martyr  in  his  ''Apology  "  (A.  D.  139) :  "  One  article 
of  our  faith,  then,  is,  that  Christ  is  the  first  begotten  of 
God,  and  we  have  already  found  him  to  be  the  very 
Logos  (or  universal  reason)  of  which  mankind  are  all 
partakers  ;  and,  therefore,  those  who  live  according  to  the 
Logos  are  Christians,  notwithstanding  they  may  pass 
with  you  for  atheists ;  such,  among  the  Greeks,  were 
Socrates  and  Herakleitos,  and  the  like ;  and  such,  among 
the  Barbarians,  were  Abraham,  and  Ananias,  and  Azarias, 
and  Misael,  and  Elias,  and  many  others,  whose  actions, 
nay,  whose  very  names,  I  know,  would  be  tedious  to 
relate,  and  therefore  shall  pass  them  over.  So,  on  the 
other  hand,  those  who  have  lived  in  former  times  in 
defiance  of  the  Logos,  or  reason,  were  evil,  and  enemies  to 
Christ,  and  murderers  of  such  as  lived  according  to  the 
Logos  ;  but  they  wlio  have  made  the  Logos,  or  reason,  the  rule 
of  their  actions  are  CJiristians,  and  men  without  fear  and 
trembling."  Nor  is  this  an  exaggerated  statement;  for 
although  it  seems  inevitable  that  there  should  exist  in  all 
ages  a  certain  class,  who  whether  from  short-sightedness 
or  mental  imbecility,  would  so  far  circumscribe  the  sphere 
of  religion  as  to  make  it  dependent  on  certain  dogmatic 
forms,  instead  of  fundamental  principles,  inhering  in  the 
nature  of  things,  there  are  yet  others  who  prefer  the 
comprehensiveness,  as  well  as  the  profounder  estimate,  of 
Justin  Martyr  and  Clement  of  Alexandria. 

§Stromata,  Liber  I,  chap.  5,  l  Stromata,  Liber  VI,  chap.  5, 


55 

Following  in  the  footsteps  of  Lucretius,  and  perceiv- 
that  the  evils  of  superstition,  bigotry,  and  fanaticism  have 
their  root  in  religion ;  and  believing,  also,  that  Epicurus 
conferred  a  lasting  benefit  when  he  "  first  dared  to  lift 
the  veil  from  the  eyes  of  man,  and  assert  his  natural 
liberty" — we  may  find  at  least  a  partial  justification  for 
those  who,  in  the  first  impulse  of  their  antagonism  against 
these  evils,  would  totally  destroy  the  religious  sentiment. 
In  the  nature  of  things,  this  is,  however,  impossible. 
Keligion,  in  some  form  or  other,  as  the  history  of  the 
world  has  shown,  is  not  only  indispensable  to,  but  is 
actually  inseparable  from,  all  that  we  know  of  human 
nature,  or  can  predicate  concerning  human  existence.  In 
fact,  that,  after  all  the  analytical  and  crucial  tests  we  can 
apply  to  it,  it  still  remains  what  W.  Yon  Humboldt  has 
said  of  it :  "  Eeligion  is  implanted  in  the  very  nature  of 
man ; "  its  quality  depending,  of  course,  on  that  stage  of 
culture  to  which  we  have  arrived. 

Admit  this,  and  we  have  at  once  a  different  estimate ; 
an  estimate,  too,  which,  in  addition  to  the  general  enlarge- 
ment which  it  gives  to  our  views  of  human  nature  and 
human  destiny,  convinces  us  also  that,  however  formida- 
ble the  differences  between  culture  and  religion  may 
seem  superficially,  they  do  not  really  exist  otherwise  than 
as  a  part  of  those  deceptive  phenomena  which  it  is  the 
especial  function  of  all  knowledge  to  relegate  to  their 
true  condition — as  appearances  only. 

Following  out  this  train  of  thought,  therefore,  it  will 
be  easily  seen  that,  although  there  certainly  does  exist  a 
spirit  of  alienation,  and  to  some  extent  antagonism, 
between  modern  thought  and  the  faith  of  our  ancestors, 
it  by  no  means  follows,  that,  in  consequence  of  thisj'we  are 
to  witness  nothing  but  the  disintegration  of  society,'  the 


56 

destruction  of  all  moral  and  spiritual  beauty,  and  the 
introduction  in  their  stead  of  a  chaos  so  dreadful  that 
virtue's  only  office  will  be  to  sit  and  weep  among  the 
ruins : 

"  There  is  a  temple  in  ruin  stands, 
Fashioned  by  long  forgotten  hands ; 
Two  or  three  columns,  and  many  a  stone, 
Marble  and  granite,  with  grass  o'ergrown." 

But  no  ;  this  cannot  be.  For  the  gloomy  spirit  of  Byron, 
we  will  readily  accept  that  of  Bowring ;  and,  as  an 
illustration  of  the  beneficent  influences  of  enlightenment, 
cheerfully  indorse  his  sentiment  : 

• '  Culture's  hand 

Has  scatter'd  verdure  o'er  the  land; 
And  smiles  and  fragrance  rule  serene, 
Where  barren  wild  usurp'd  the  scene." 

Because,  therefore,  modern  culture  is  averse  to  certain 
dogmas  constructed  on  an  emasculated  idea  of  progress, 
and  whose  influence  on  the  world  can  only  be  compared 
to  that  of  a  terible  nightmare,  it  surely  does  not  follow 
that  the  spirit  which  venerates  the  supremacy  of  mind, 
and  believes  that  the  world  is  ruled  by  God,  and  not  by 
the  Devil,  must  of  necessity  be  injurious  to  what  it 
cannot  destroy,  viz.,  "  that  indestructible  granite  of  the 
human  soul — religious  faith,"  as  Max  Miiller  calls  it. 
For  it  must  be  observed,  in  this  connection,  that  while  it 
is  one  thing  to  repudiate  theology  as  a  system  of  unweildy, 
inconsistent,  inflexible,  and,  in  many  respects,  monstrous 
creeds  and  dogmas,  it  is  quite  another  to  include  in  the 
same  category  the  essence  of  religion,  pure  and  simple. 
Under  the  first  condition,  the  original  sentiment  is  so  far 
dwarfed  and  perverted  that  it  is  only  here  and  there  that  we 


57 

catch  glimpses  of  the  beauty  concealed  beneath  the  dense 
mist  of  incongruities  and  absurdities.  Under  the  second 
condition,  we  understand  at  once,  in  using  the  term  religi- 
ous sentiment,  that  we  are  endeavoring  to  express  in  finite 
terms  a  principle  which  is  quite  as  universal  in  a  spiritual 
sense  as  the  law  of  gravitation  is  in  a  material  sense.  A 
sentiment,  in  fact,  which,  because  it  is  so  truly  grand  in 
in  its  universality,  and  so  exquisitely  beautiful  in  its 
individually,  §  is  in  every  sense  worthy  of  its  author ; 
while  it  also  acts  on  man  like  some  force  of  spiritual 
light  and  heat  which  expands,  develops,  and  irradiates 
according  to  the  measure  of  our  true  humanity,  and  the 
conditions  consequent  on  the  intellectual  type  of  the  age. 
Differ  from  theology  we  must :  it  is  of  man ;  and,  therefore, 
fraught  with  error.  Venerate  the  religious  sentiment  we 
most  certainly  and  most  cordially  do  :  it  is  of  God  ;  and, 
therefore,  rests  on  the  indestructible  bases  of  truth. 
Theology  is  human :  religion  is  divine.  Coeval,  as  the 
origin  of  our  religious  instinct  necessarily  was,  with  the 
formation  of  the  human  soul,  it  may  be  as  truly  said  of 
it,  as  of  our  psychical  capabilities  : 

"Our  birth  is  but  a  sleep  and  a  forgetting; 

The  soul  that  rises  with  us,  our  life's  star, 
Hath  had  elsewhere  its  setting, 
And  cometh  from  afar." 

Or,  again,  as  Keble  expresses  it,  when  referring  to  the 
same  sentiment  under  its  higher  form  of  manifestation, 


§  As  an  example  of  this  spirit  of  beauty,  which,  at  times,  rises  to  the  ecstatic 
sense  of  saintly  devotion,  we  have,  perhaps,  no  better  illustration  than  that 
afforded  us  by  the  artist  Gioito— "that  gentle  monk,11  as  Mr.  Lecky  observes, 
"  who  was  never  known  to  utter  a  word  of  anger  or  bitterness  ;  who  refused  with- 
out a  pang  the  rich  mitre  of  Florence  ;  who  had  been  seen  with  tears  streaming 
from  his  eyes  as  he  painted  his  crucified  Lord,  and  who  never  began  a  picture 
without  consecrating  it  by  a  prayer." 


58 

\ 

and  more  especially  in  its  sublimated  character  of  Chris- 
tian love  and  purity : 

"  They  seem  to  dwell 
Above  this  earth — so  rich  a  spell 
Floats  round  their  path  where'er  they  move, 
From  hopes  fulfilled  and  mutual  love." 

And  so  it  is  that  this  religious  sentiment,  this  yearning 
after  the  Infinite,  is  everywhere  present ;  it  is  universal ; 
it  is  indestructible;  it  is  indispensable.  In  the  far-off 
utterances  of  the  Veda  and  the  Zendavesta  its  voice 
may  be  heard ;  it  rises  into  the  majestic  specula- 
tions of  Plato  ;  it  speaks  to  us  with  an  exquisite  beauty 
and  indescribable  pathos  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  ; 
it  is  with  us  now,  and  in  many  a  soul  beats  with  the 
rich  pulsations  of  a  noble  life.  Instead,  therefore,  of 
culture  being  the  natural  enemy  of  religion,  it  follows 
necessarily  that  the  more  fully  we  understand  the  true 
character  of  their  respective  functions,  the  more  clearly 
will  we  perceive  that,  although  the  cultivation  of  our 
faculties  necessitates  a  constant  change  in  our  views 
generally,  it  is  one  thing  to  attempt  the  dissipation  of 
theological  beliefs  which  are  no  longer  fitted  to  our 
intellectual  growth,  and  quite  another  to  attempt  the 
destruction  of  a  principle  that  lies  at  the  very  founda- 
tion of  human  existence.  And  this  brings  us  to  a  more 
direct  examination  of  that  law  of  continuity  and  endless 
development  which,  independently  of  its  attractiveness 
as  a  theme  of  abstract  science,  is,  also,  a  necessary  link 
in  the  chain  of  argument  which  would  emphasize 
culture  as  a  chemical  process,  through  which  the  dross 
of  ignorance  and  superstition  is  separated  from  the  pure 
gold  of  truth ;  a  process,  indeed,  which,  however  enig- 
matical or  even  contradictory  it  may  sometimes  appear, 


59 

is,  nevertheless,  moving  us  on  gradually  to  the  realization 
and  attainment  of  a  higher  and  nobler  purpose  of  life ; 
and  which,  because  it  recognizes  the  potency  of  influence 
as  embodied  in  the  hereditary  character  of  social,  moral, 
and  intellectual  forces,  at  once  connects  the  present  with 
the  past,  and  binds  the  future  to  the  present,  according 
to  the  same  immutable  law.    Or,  as  was  remarked  by  an 
uncivilized   chief   to   Casalis,    the   African   missionary: 
"One  event  is  always  the  son  of  another,  and  we  must 
never  forget  the  parentage."    A  fact  which  we  must  all, 
sooner  or  later,  realize  as  an  indispensable  feature  in  our 
conceptions    of    progress.      Indeed,    it  may,    with    all 
safety,  be  assumed,  that  if  we  expect  to   look  modern 
life  in  the  face,  and  comprehend  it  by  a  merely  superfi- 
cial estimate,  we  shall  certainly  find  ourselves  grievously 
mistaken.      What  we  are,  is  in  the  strictest  sense,  the 
result  of    what  we   have    been    becoming    through   a 
gradual  process,  connecting   at  every   step,   the  higher 
forms  with  the  lower,  and  thereby  adding,  at  every  stage 
of  advancement,  an  additional  link  to  that  golden  chain 
of   cause  and  effect ;  which  not  only  gives  permanence 
and  consistency  to  civilized  life,  but  which,  also,  connects 
the  whole  human  family  in  one  comprehensive  network 
of  interdependence   and   similarity  of  interest.     In  the 
process  and  development  of  culture,  as  in  the  phenom- 
ena  of  the  material   world,   the'  more  thoroughly  we 
examine  the  subject,  the  more  clearly  will  we  discover 
that  causeless  spontaneity  can  only  exist  as  the  product 
of  ignorance  and  superstitious  imagination  ;  while  chance 
and  irregularity  in  the  method  of  Divine  government 
are   only  possible   with  the   vulgar     and   uneducated. 
For  them  there  may  be  no   evidence   of  design   and 
regularity  of  procedure  in  those  methods  through  which, 


60 

for  instance,  our  views  of  nature  have  been  gradually 
transformed  from  the  diseased  and  monstrous  ideas  of 
savage  life  to  their  present  condition ;  no  evidence 
of  order  and  harmony  of  development  in  the  transition 
which,  at  one  end,  gives  us  the  ridiculous  superstition 
prompting  the.  women  of  Greenland  to  pinch  their  dogs 
by  the  ears  during  an  eclipse,  so  as  to  ascertain  whether 
the  end  of  the  world  is  at  hand,  and  at  the  other  end  gives 
us  Newton  pointing  his  telescope  and  measuring  the 
heavens  ;  no  indications  of  a  gradual  change  in  that 
process  of  thought  through  which  we  pass  from  the 
sun-worship  of  the  Mexicans  and  Peruvians  to  that 
condition  which  enables  us  to  determine  the  existence 
of  particular  metals  in  the  sun,  as  revealed  by  the 
spectrum  analysis.  For  us,  however,  this  process  of 
reasoning,  or,  more  correctly,  this  absence  of  reasoning, 
can  have  no  part  Beginning  our  point  of  observation 
at  any  given  period  in  human  history,  we  are  still  met 
by  the  same  universal  fact  that  human  nature  is 
governed  in  its  development  by  law,  and  that  those 
instances  which  seem  to  constitute  glaring  exceptions  to 
the  general  rule  are  only  so  because  our  ethnographic 
knowledge  is  too  limitited  to  comprehend  the  true 
circumstances  of  the  case. 

Thus,  it  is  a  mere  truism  to  assert  that  modern 
civilization  is  the  result,  in  a  more  highly  developed 
form,  of  mediaeval  civilization,  which  is  also  a  develop- 
ment from  the  order  of  civilization  represented  in 
Greece,  Assyria,  and  Egypt;  while  this,  again,  by  a 
process  of  analogous  reasoning,  is  also  the  result  (subject 
to  intermediate  conditions)  of  those  earlier  ages  when 
man  in  his  primitive  condition  first  looked  upon  the 
majestic  aspect  of  nature,  and  when  the  faculty  of 


61 

reason  existed  rather  as  a  possibility  than  as  a  potent 
influence.  Nor  is  it  to  be  denied,  even  if  we  regard 
this  law  of  continuity  as  a  philosophical  thesis  rather 
than  an  established  fact,  that  it  commends  itself  under  a 
peculiar  form  of  attractiveness  to  every  thoughtful  mind, 
while  it  also  induces  a  more  vivid  realization  of  progress 
as  a  process  of  gradual  growth,  and  not  some  legerde- 
main method  of  instantaneous  transition.  Says  Froude, 
in  his  "  Essay  on  the  Philosophy  of  Catholicism  :  "  "  We, 
with  this  glorious  present  which  is  opening  on  us,  we  shall 
never  enter  on  it,  we  shall  never  understand  it  till  we 
have  learned  to  see  in  the  past,  not  error,  but  installment 
of  truth,  hard-fought-for  truth,  wrung  out  with  painful 
and  heroic  effort.  The  promised  land  is  smiling  before 
us ;  but  we  may  not  pass  over  into  the  possession  of  it 
while  the  bones  of  our  fathers,  who  labored  through 
the  wilderness,  lie  bleaching  on  the  sands,  or  a  prey  to 
the  unclean  birds.  We  must  gather  their  relics,  and 
bury  them,  and  sum  up  their  labors,  and  inscribe  the 
record  of  their  actions  on  their  tombs  as  an  honorable 
epitaph." 

And,  so  we  must,  since  it  is  only  by  approaching 
the  subject  under  this  condition  of  thought  that  we 
can  safely  insure  ourselves  against  that  inflation  of  self- 
esteem  which  would  lead  us  to  consider  the  present  age 
a  sort  of  oasis  in  the  desert ;  a  solitary  ray  of  light,  in 
striking  contrast  to  the  darkness  that  preceded  it.  In 
this  respect,  the  truth  is  that  the  more  carefully  we 
examine  the  historical  and  philosophical  aspect  of 
culture,  and  the  more  generally  sound  principles  of 
knowledge  are  disseminated,  the  more  clearly  will  we 
perceive  the  force  and  beauty  of  the  progression-theory 
of  civilization  as  contrasted  with  its  rival,  the  degenera- 


62 

tion  theory;  at  the  same  time  that  our  position 
necessitates  an  attachment  and  grateful  remembrance  of 
those  who,  in  former  ages,  have  labored  in  the  cause  of 
truth.  For  instance,  Socrates,  in  his  grand  and  noble 
sublimity  ;  Plato,  in  his  wonderful  depth  of  thought  and 
keeness  of  spiritual  insight ;  Aristotle,  in  his  profound 
and  comprehensive  system  of  physics,  ethics,  and 
metaphysics;  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Origen,  and  others 
among  the  Patristic  philosophers ;  Plotinus,  and 
Porphyry  among  the  Neo-platonists ;  and  last,  but 
not  least,  the  intellectual  luminaries  of  more  modern 
times ;  all  these  will  live,  not  only  in  name,  but  in  actual 
verity,  to  the  student  of  the  future.  Time,  as  it  operates 
on  the  nations  of  the  world,  affecting  their  destiny  now 
in  one  way,  and  now  in  another,  is  not  the  result  so 
much  of  any  great  and  sudden  upheaval,  as  it  is  the 
product  of  a  long  chain  of  influences  operating,  for  the 
most  part,  like  the  vital  forces  in  the  material  world, 
silently,  but  effectually.  And  so  it  is  with  culture.  In 
a  manner  no  less  grand  than  that  which  geology  reveals 
to  us  as  the  history  of  the  earth,  the  human  mind  passes 
necessarily  through  a  variety  of  phases  in  its  process 
of  education.  Like  geology,  it  has  had  its  different 
ages,  each'  one  characterizing  some  particular  phase  in 
our  process  of  gradual  advancement.  Like  geology, 
also,  although  there  has  been  everywhere  the  strictest 
uniformity  in  the  method,  the  results  have  been 
characteristic  of  a  wonderful  diversity  and  develop- 
ment. 

Nor  is  this  all  that  can  be  said  in  favor  of  that 
method  of  reasoning  which  connects  the  present  with 
the  past,  the  future  with  the  present,  and,  according  to 
which,  although  there  may  seem  an  occasional  hiatus  in 


63 

the  history  of  humanity's  progress,  there  still  exists  a 
higher  law  which  precludes  the  possibility  of  isolation, 
and  renders  every  age  the  legitimate  offspring  of  its 
predecessor. 

As  a  further  illustration  of  the  subject,  and  more 
especially  so  as  exemplifying  the  indestructible  character 
of  influence  when  applied  to  the  emotional  side  of  our 
nature,  we  have  only  to  bear  in  mind  the  enormous 
influence  which  medievalism  still  exercises  over  a  very 
large  portion  of  the  civilized  world ;  and  which,  although 
not  so  directly  applicable  to  us  as  Protestants,  still 
possesses  a  considerable  charm,  in  spite  of  its  errors, 
for  every  thoughtful  and  earnest  mind. 

From  the  days  of  Albertus  Magnus,  and  his  efforts 
to  distinguish  between  the  vegetable,  the  sensual,  and 
the  intellectual  life,  we  certainly  have  made  the  most 
wonderful  progress ;  but,  wide  as  the  distance  between 
us  may  appear,  there  still  exists  a  bond  of  connection 
which  makes  it  beautifully  true,  as  said  by  Kogers  in 
his  "  Pleasures  of  Memory  "  : 

"  Lull'd  in  the  countless  chambers  of  the  brain, 
Our  thoughts  are  linked  by  many  a  hidden  chain  ; 
Awake  but  one,  and  lo,  what  myriads  rise, 
Each  stamps  its  image  as  the  other  flies." 

For  instance,  let  us  take  Albertus  Magnus  as  an 
example,  and  is  there  not  a  fascination  about  the  old 
schoolman,  as  we  think  of  him  in  his  monastery, 
prosecuting  his  studies  and  investigations  with  a  spirit 
of  earnestness  and  devotion,  and  at  the  same  time 
cherishing  the  fond  hope  that  he  was  gradually  realizing 
the  golden  chain  that  connects  the  lowest  form  of  insect 
life  with  the  highest  angelic  intelligence?  Certainly  the 
answer  of  every  candid  mind  can  only  be  one  at  least 


64 

of  partial  appreciation.  A  sentiment,  too,  which  will 
enable  us  to  enter  more  fully  into  the  spirit  of  Matthew 
Arnold's  remark  when,  in  speaking  of  Oxford  as  his 
alma-mater,  he  says:  "Beautiful  city!  so  venerable,  so 
lovely,  so  unravaged  by  the  fierce  intellectual  life  of  our 
country,  so  serene ! 

There  are  our  young  barbarians,  all  at  play  ! 

And  yet,  steeped  in  sentiment  as  she  lies,  spreading 
her  gardens  to  the  moonlight,  and  whispering  from  her 
towers  the  last  enchantments  of  the  Middle  Ages,  who 
will  deny  that  Oxford,  by  her  ineffable  charm,  keeps 
ever  calling  us  nearer  to  the  true  goal  of  all  of  us — to 
the  ideal,  to  perfection,  to  beauty,  in  a  word — which  is 
only  truth  seen  from  another  side."||  A  beautiful 
tribute  certainly.  What  shall  we  say  of  it,  however  ? 
Is  it  for  us  but  a  dream,  wherein  we  invest  the  past  with 
a  beauty  and  a  power  which  it  did  not  possess  ?  No  ; 
certainly  not.  For  although  medievalism,  as  we  all  know, 
was  marvelously  productive  of  many  forms  of  error, 
there  still  lingers  a  spirit  of  beauty  about  it  which  we 
cannot  consistently  ignore,  and  which,  as  measured 
through  the  dim  vista  of  the  past,  still  fascinates  and 
allures  us  with  the  power  of  an  irresistible  charm ;  a 
charm,  indeed,  which,  if  we  ca-refully  consider  the 
present  condition  of  the  religious  world,  is  scarcely  less 
influential  than  the  spirit  of  Greece  is  in  an  intellectual 
sense.  Examining,  therefore,  our  position  in  its  true 
light,  it  will  be  seen  at  once  that  the  only  philosophical 
condition  of  thought  consists  in  fully  recognizing  the 
principle  of  continuity  as  an  indispensable  condition  of 
progress ;  and,  also,  by  fairly  estimating  the  services 

I  "Essays in,  Criticism"  by  Matthew. Arnold. 


65 

rendered  us  by  the  past,  to  so  far  apply  the  many 
valuable  lessons  they  have  afforded  us  as  to  insure 
more  fully  our  own  advancement,  and  the  consequences 
we  necessarily  entail  on  the  age  succeeding  us.  Here, 
however,  the  allegiance  ends ;  here  the  paths  diverge  ; 
and  modern  culture,  much  as  it  may  respect  its  antece- 
dent conditions,  finds,  also,  that  there  is  to  every  age  an 
especial  function  assigned,  a  peculiar  form  of  thought 
and  sentiment,  without  which  it  could  possess  no  leading 
characteristic  destiriguishing  it  from  its  predecessor, 
no  individuality  determining  its  position  in  the  history 
of  the  world  and  the  great  problem  of  human  progress. 
And  thus  we  arrive  at  a  more  definite  understanding 
respecting  the  relationship  between  ancient  faith  and 
modern  culture  ;  a  position  which,  in  proportion  as  it 
is  realized  and  appreciated,  so  far  will  it  remove  many 
idle  fears  and, unfounded  anticipations.  Ages  change, 
minds  oscillate,  the  past  is  looked  on  as  a  dream,  and 
though  the  future,  in  the  language  of  Milton, 

"  Is  all  abyss, 
Eternity,  whose  end  no  eye  can  reach," 

yet  there  still  exists  an  indestructible  chain  of  causes 
and  effects,  a  gradual  process  of  advancement,  which 
encourages  and  supports  us  under  the  most  trying 
emergencies,  and  which  induced  so  high  an  authority  as 
Gibbon  to  remark  :  "  We  may,  therefore,  acquiesce  in 
the  pleasing  conclusion  that,  every  age  of  the  world 
has  increased,  and  still  increases,  the  real  wealth,  the 
happiness,  the  knowledge,  and  perhaps  the  virtue,  of  the 
human  race."  || 


"  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  ftornan  Empire,"  Chap.  xxxviU, 


66 

But,  it  may  be  said,  the  culture  of  the  present  age 
seeks  to  accomplish  that  which  has  always  been  regarded 
as  doubtful,  and  which  Pascal  even  went  so  far  as  to 
declare  was  impossible,  that  is,  to  make  moral  truth 
geometrically  convincing  ;  and,  having  done  so,  to  make 
it  harmonize  with  faith,  the  essence  of  which  consists 
in  denying,  to  a  great  extent,  the  utility  of  rational 
bases.  Is  this,  however,  really  the  case,  or  is  it  a  mis- 
conception, growing  out  of  what  we  are  so  apt  to 
consider  the  natural  estrangement  and  antagonism 
between  religion  and  culture?  Is  it  not  possible  for 
culture  and  religion  to  so  far  blend  into  a  harmonious 
and  beautiful  system  of  truth ;  and,  in  so  doing,  to 
transmute  those  dry  and  merely  dogmatical  forms  of 
faith,  to  which  we  are  so  largely  accustomed,  into 
sentiments  that  are  higher,  purer,  and  better ;  a  revivified 
faith,  in  fact,  more  comprehensive,  more  glorious,  more 
beautiful  than  that  which  is,  more  deeply  expressive  of 
that  strange,  mysterious  sense  that  binds  us  to  the 
Infinite.  Or,  to  put  the  same  sense  in  other  words : 

"  Science  was  faith  once  ;  faitli  were  science  now, 
Would  she  but  lay  her  bow  and  arrow  by, 
And  arm  her  with  the  weapons  of  the  time." 

Elements  which  at  first  sight  seemed  antagonistic 
are  gradually  made  to  assimilate.  Indeed,  in  a  manner 
somewhat  analogous  to  the  fabled  properties  of  the 
philosopher's  stone,  a  process  of  gradual  transmutation 
is  induced,  caused  by  the  thoughts  of  one  age 
becoming  blended  with  those  of  another,  and  thus 
producing  the  result  which  we  call  progress.  Old  ideas 
and  formulas  pass  away,  new  ones  are  formed,  and  man, 
the  two-sided  being,  the  creature  of  reason  as  well  as 
sentiment,  is  again  and  again  made"  to  feel  that  he  is  a 


67 

progressive  animal.  For,  it  must  be  remembered,  that 
whatever  explanation  we  may  offer  as  to  the  cause  of 
it,  our  world  has  been  from  the  beginning  an  arena  of 
contest,  an  alternation  between  light  and  darkness ; 
first,  of  angry  and  discordant  elements,  according  to  the 
theory  of  Laplace ;  then,  a  prolonged  and  severe  struggle 
for  the  revival  of  the  fittest,  according  to  Darwin  ;  and, 
to  the  present  day,  a  constant  warfare  between  the 
higher  and  lower  nature  in  man.  To  aid  us  in  this, 
religion  takes  poor  human  nature  in  her  arms, 
and,  like  an  affectionate  mother,  wipes  away  all 
tears,  pours  healing  balm  into  our  wounds,  and  tells 
us  of  that  brighter  world,  to  which  we  are  all  tending 
fast.  To  assist  us  also  in  the  same  direction,  and  to 
determine  more  fully  the  triumph  of  virtue  over 
vice,  culture  places  us  under  a  process  of  perpetual 
purification,  elevates  and  ennobles  our  moral  and 
esthetical  judgments,  while  it  also  teaches  us  more 
and  more  to  realize  and  appreciate  all  forms  of 
moral  beauty,  all  forms  of  intellectual  grandeur ;  in 
short,  encourages  everything  which  exalts  our  concep- 
tion of  human  nature  and  ennobles  our  views  of  life. 
In  the  words  of  Mr.  Shairp  :  "  Culture  proposes  as  its 
end  the  carrying  of  man's  nature  to  its  highest  perfec- 
tion, the  developing  to  the  full  all  the  capacities  of  our 
humanity.  If,  then,  in  this  view,  humanity  be  contem- 
plated in  its  totality,  and  not  in  some  partial  side  of  it, 
culture  must  aim  at  developing  our  humanity  in  its 
Godward  aspect,  as  well  as  its  mundane  aspect.  And  it 
must  not  only  recognize  the  religious  side  of  humanity, 
but  if  it  tries  to  assign  the  due  place  to  each  capacity, 
and  assign  to  all  the  capacities  their  mutual  relations,  it 
must  concede  to  the  Godward  capacities  that  paramount 


and  dominating  place  which  rightfully  belongs  to 
them,  if  they  are  recognized  at  all.  That  is,  culture 
must  embrace  religion,  and  end  in  it."  | 

But,  says  the  same  writer,  in  another  place :  "  Goethe, 
the  high-priest  of  culture,  loathes  Luther,  the  preacher 
of  righteousness.  The  earnestness  and  fervor  of  the 
one  disturb  arid  offend  the  calm  serenity  which  the 
other  loves.  And  Luther,  likely  enough,  had  he  seen 
Goethe,  would  have  done  him  but  scant  justice."  And 
here,  it  seems  to  us,  Mr.  Shairp  falls  into  a  train  of 
4espondency  which  is  hardly  consistent  with  his  pre- 
ceding remarks,  and  which  is  certainly  at  variance  with 
an  enlarged  conception  of  those  laws  determining  the 
growth  and  development  of  human  nature.-  From  the 
nature  of  man,  and  the  conditions  by  which  he  is 
surrounded,  culture  necessarily  creates  a  series  of 
gradations,  separating  the  few  from  the  many ;  but  this 
being  the  case  with  culture,  it  surely  is  not  reasonable 
to  satisfy  ourselves  with  an  imperfect  estimate  of 
religion,  and,  in  so  doing,  deny  to  it  the  potency  of  a 
sentiment  which  is  quite  as  powerful  in  the  moral 
universe  as  the  laws  of  attraction  and  repulsion  are  in 
the  material  world  ;  a  sentiment,  indeed,  which  compels 
us  to  acknowledge  that,  in  religion  as  well  as  in  culture, 
there  are  different  degrees,  affiliating  those  who  stand 
upon  a  common  intellectual  and  moral  plane,  repelling 
those  who  stand  beneath  it. 


||"  Culture  and  Religion  in  Some  of  their  Relations,"  by  J.  C.  SHAIRP, 
Principle  of  the  United  College  of  St.  Salvator  and  St.  Leonard,  St.  Andrews. 

Tfln  this  connection,  we  are,  of  course,  aware  of  all  that  can  be  said  in 
favor  of  that  common  principle  of  equality  upon  which  all  religion  hinges; 
but  even  in  admitting  this,  it  cannot  be  overlooked  that  this  is  a  statement 
rather  as  regards  man  in  the  sight  of  God)  than  it  is  of  our  reciprocal  relation- 
ship as  members  of  society.  In  this  sense,  it  is  impossible  to  have  everything 
reduced  to  a  dead  JeveJ. 


69 

It  is  the  possession  of  a  common  spirituality  that 
makes  us  one ;  it  is  the  diversity  requisite  to  unity  that 
makes  us  many.  Nor  can  it  be  otherwise  so  long  as 
civilization  retains  its  present  complex  character.  Of 
one  thing,  however,  we  may  be  sure,  and  that  is,  that  in 
proportion  as  ignorance  is  dissipated,  and  animalism 
subdued,  just  so  surely  will  we  witness  a  diminution  of 
vice.  In  this  sense,  especially,  culture  comes  to  our 
aid,  supplementing,  not  destroying,  the  functions  of 
religion.  Nor  is  this  but  a  vain  and  idle  dream, 
existing  only  in  the  culturist's  imagination.  Its  funda- 
mental postulate  is  mind,  and  in  that  postulate  it 
rests  upon  the  most  substantial  verity  in  the  universe. 

"It  is  sure, 

Stamped  by  the  seal  of  nature,  that  the  well 
Of  mind,  where  all  its  waters  gather  pure, 
Shall  with  unquestion'd  spell  all  hearts  allure. 
Wisdom  enshrined  in  beauty — oh  !  how  high 
The  order  of  that  loveliness." 

In  fact,  the  realization  of  the  dream  of  ages,  the  hope 
of  humanity,  the  promise  of  the  future.  Admit,  there- 
fore, that,  in  many  respects,  culture  is  compelled  to  make 
war  upon  some  of  our  dearest  and  most  beloved  forms  of 
faith,  some  of  our  most  venerable  traditions.  Admit, 
also,  that,  in  the  process  of  transition,  we  will  at  times 
exclaim  with  Young : 

"  How  like  a  widow  in  her  weeds  the  night, 
Amid  her  glimmering  tapers,  silent  sits  ! 
How  sorrowful,  how  desolate,  she  weeps 
Perpetual  dews,  and  saddens  nature's  scene." 

Yet  is  it  only  transitory ;  and  the  process  which,  for  the 
time,  seems  made  up  of  dissolution  and  decay,  will  ere 


70 

long  reveal  itself  in  its  true  character  of  progress  and 
development. 

"  Night  wanes — the  vapors  round  the  mountains  curl'd 
Melt  into  morn,  and  light  awakes  the  world." 

To  conclude,  therefore,  although  modern  culture  may 
seem  unfriendly  to  those  forms  of  ancient  faith  which  we 
are  accustomed  to  regard  as  embodying  our  highest 
interests,  it  is,  after  all,  but  a  remedial  application 
inseparable  from  our  growth  as  rational  and  sentient 
beings.  Stand  still  we  cannot ;  and  the  act  of  moving 
forward  necessitates  changes  which,  although  in  some 
degree  painful,  are,  nevertheless,  essential.  The  existence 
of  progress  depends  upon  the  possibility  of  change :  the 
act  of  progression  on  the  process  of  change. 

And  so  it  is  that,  in  our  day,  we  are  compelled  to  recog- 
nize the  existence  of  a  process  not  unlike  that  alluded  to 
by  Lecky  when,  treating  of  the  decline  of  medievalism, 
he  says  :  "  For  the  long  night  of  medievalism  was  now 
drawing  to  a  close,  and  the  chaos  that  precedes  resurrection 
was  supreme.  The  spirit  of  ancient  Greece  had  arisen 
from  the  tomb,  and  the  fabric  of  superstition  crumbled 
and  tottered  at  her  touch.  The  human  mind,  starting 
beneath  her  influence  from  the  dust  of  ages,  cast  aside 
the  bonds  that  had  enchained  it,  and,  radiant  in  the 
light  of  recovered  libert}r,  remoulded  the  structure  of  its 
faith.  The  love  of  truth,  the  passion  for  freedom,  the  sense 
of  human  dignity,  which  the  great  thinkers  of  antiquity 
had  inspired,  vivified  a  torpid  and  downtrodden  people, 
blended  with  those  sublime  moral  doctrines  and  with 
those  conceptions  of  enlarged  benevolence  which  are 
at  once  the  glory  and  the  essence  of  Christianity  ;  intro- 
duced a  new  era  of  human  development,  with  new 


71 

aspirations,  habits  of  though^  and  conditions  of  vitality  ; 
and,  withdrawing  religious  life  from  the  shattered  edifice 
of  the  past,  created  a  purer  faith,  and  became  the  promise 
of  an  eternal  development."  *  So  it  was  then,  and  so  it 
is  now.  By  gradually  elevating  our  estimate  of  human 
nature,  and,  at  the  same  time,  taking  a  more  definite  stand 
in  favor  of  liberty  and  reason,  we  are  not  only  perpetuat- 
ing the  influence  of  that  glorious  Greece,  whose  very 
name  has  been  the  support  and  consolation  of  every  great 
and  noble  mind,  but  we  are,  also,  learning  more  and 
more  to  appreciate  the  fundamental  fact  that  all  human 
progress  depends  upon  the  sublimation  and  purification 
of  the  sentiments  through  the  reason  ;  and  not  the  exag- 
gerated cultivation  of  the  former,  at  the  expense  of  the 
latter.  If,  then,  from  the  time  of  Socrates,  and  especially 
so  from  the  picture  which  we  have  of  him  in  Plato's 
Phasdrus — that  dialogue  which  has  so  deeeply  moved 
the  most  thoughtful  minds  in  all  ages — there  has  been, 
at  occasional  intervals,  an  increasing  tendency  to  apothe- 
osize the  attribute  of  reason,  and  if,  also,  in  the  present 
age,  this  tendency  exists  to  a  marked  degree,  it  surely 

»does  not  follow  that  we  are  moving  in  the  wrong  direc- 
tion. Certainly  not.  To  argue  in  this  way  would,  indeed, 
be  to  place  a  strange  estimate  on  the  educational  import- 
ance of  culture,  and  the  relationship  which  it  bears  to  civi- 
lization. Take  away  the  fact  of  mind — its  indestructi- 
bility, its  boundless  capacity — and  civilization  becomes  a 
sham,  the  idea  of  progress  an  impossibility.  Admit  it, 
however,  and  the  claims  of  culture  will  be  at  once  apparent. 
Indeed,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that,  when  we  have 
fairly  realized  the  present  aim  and  scope  of  culture,  we 

*  "History  oftht  Rise  and  Influence  of  the  Spirit  of   TtationallMn  in  Europe," 
hyW.E.  H   LKCKr,  M.A. 


72 

will  at  once  discover  a  semblance,  if  not  an  analogy, 
between  the  present  age  and  that  wonderful  revolution 
in  English  literature  which  took  place  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  which  has  been  well  described  as  the 
"  Renaissance  of  the  Saxon  Genius."  Actuated  by  a 
spirit  similar  to  that  which  gave  a  new  stimulus  to  the 
English  mind,  we  are  no  longer  content  to  believe  that 
human  nature  is  a  mass  of  putrid  corruption,  rather 
than  a  wonderful  organism  meant  to  vibrate  in  harmony 
with  the  music  of  the  spheres.  On  every  side  we  are 
influenced  by  the  quickening  impulses  of  a  new  age; 
and  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  withstand  its  influences. 
Now,  as  then,  we  are  laying  aside  the  incubus  of 
sadness  and  despair ;  and,  instead  of  seeing  in  the  world 
nothing  but  universal  ruin  and  iniquity,  we  are  growing 
more  and  more  into  a  condition  of  consciousness  the 
very  opposite  of  asceticism.  Not  that  we  have  lost  a 
proper  appreciation  of  those  qualities  of  chastity,  purity 
and  religious  force,  which  constitute  the  bases  of  asceti- 
cism, not  that  we  are  unable  to  appreciate  the  exquisite 
pathos,  with  which  Milttfn  immortalized  religious  purity 
and  poetic  grandeur : 

"Come  pensive  nun,  devout  and  pure, 
Sober,  steadfast,  and  demure, 
All  in  a  robe  of  darkest  grain, 
Flowing  with  majestic  train, 
And  sable  stole  of  Cyprus  lawn, 
Over  thy  decent  shoulders  drawn. 
Come,  but  keep  thy  wonted  state, 
With  even  step,  and  musing  gait," 
And  looks  commercing  with  the  skies, 
Thy  rapt  soul  sitting  in  thine  eyes."f 


t "  V Allegro." 


78 

Not  that  we  are  unable  to  enter  occasionally  into  those 
moods  of  thought  which  bring  home  to  us  a  becoming 
sense  of  the  solemnity  and  importance  of  life.  Were  this 
so,  then  were  we,  indeed,  in  a  lamentable  condition.  It 
is  not,  however,  in  this  that  the  change  consists. 

The  great  heart  of  humanity  remains  the  same ;  but 
the  intellectual  type  of  the  age  is  changed.  And  in  this, 
it  seems  to  us,  is  comprised  the  whole  of  that  change 
which  an  increasing  spirit  of  culture  promises.  The 
limited  ideas  of  theology  are  fast  giving  way  before  the  ' 
more  comprehensive  views  of  philosophy ;  but  in  the 
change,  the  idea  of  virtue  is  not  destroyed  nor  impaired. 
On  the  contrary,  the  very  ideas  of  beauty  which  culture 
generates  are,  in  themselves,  the  best  evidences  that  the 
the  culturist's  whole  aim  and  purpose  consists  in  empha- 
sizing purity  of  character,  as  the  one  great  end  of  all  our 
hopes  and  efforts.  For,  it  must  be  observed,  in  this 
connection,  that  although  the  present  age  is  characterized 
by  a  greater  freshness  of  feeling  than  the  past,  and 
although  it  indicates  very  strongly  a  return  to  the  Grecian 
spirit,  which  sought  for  beauty  everywhere,  we  are,  also, 
very  powerfully  influenced  by  those  conditions  of  rigid 
morality  which  Christianity  has  demonstrated  to  be 
beyond  a  doubt  the  safeguard  of  nations  and  individuals. 
Tn  one  sense,  the  aim  of  culture  is  necessarily  to  dissipate 
many  absurdities  which  now  exist  under  the  guise  of  theo- 
logical dogmas  ;  but  in  another,  and  still  more  important 
sense,  its  object  is  to  elevate  our  views  of  Grod  and  Man,  to 
enlarge  the  horizon  of  our  intellectual  life,  and  thus  to 
lift  us  gradually  into  a  higher  condition  of  consciousness 
and  nobler  existence.  In  the  transition,  what  matters  it 
if  some  of  our  pet  theories  and  long-cherished  dogmas 
are  proved  untenable.  In  the  midst  of  this  ever-changing 


74 

panorama,  there  must  always  remain  one  supreme  and 
fundamental  fact,  viz. :  Error  is  inprtal,  and  cannot  live 
forever ;  truth  is  immortal,  and  cannot  die. 

At  times  we  may  be  called  upon  to  slied  tears  as  we 
consign  our  long-cherished  ideas  to  the  grave ;  but,  in  all 
such  instances,  .it  is  but  an  earnest  of  a  better  immortality. 

"  I  look,  aside  the  mist  has  rolled, 

The  waster  seems  the  builder  too ; 
tlpspringing  from  the  ruined  old, 
I  see  the  new ! 

*Twas  but  the  ruin  of  the  bad, 

The  wasting  of  the  wrong  and  ill; 
Whate'er  of  good  the  old  time  had. 
Is  living  still." 

And  thus  the  world  moves  on ;  each  age  fulfilling  its 
special  work,  and  all  combining  toward  a  common  end. 
To  a  great  extent  it  seems  unavoidable  that  a  very 
large  portion  of  our  time  should  be  spent  in  unlearning 
the  errors  of  the  past.  This  is  true  of  nations  and  ages, 
no  less  than  of  individuals  and  their  brief  period  of 
existence.  Yet,  true  as  it  is,  it  is  also  evident,  on  a  care- 
ful examination,  that  there  is  a  beautiful  law  of  con- 
tinuity controlling  and  pervading  the  general  progress  of 
the  human  race.  Discouraging  as  the  conditions  may 
seem  to  some  of  us,  it  will  alwaj^s  be  found,  in  the  long- 
run,  that  all  fluctuations  of  thought,  all  gradations  of 
intellect,  all  revolutions  in  the  world  of  mind,  are  but  so 
many  confirmations  of  the  sublime  and  important  truth 
expressed  by  Pascal :  "  Humanity  is  but  a  man  who  lives 
perpetually,  and  learns  continually." 


75 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF   LAW:    ITS  PHYSICAL 
AND   PSYCHICAL   CONDITIONS. 


ACCEPTING  it  as  an  established  fact  that,  in  many 
respects,  civilization  bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  bar- 
barism, there  is  at  least  one  important  particular  in  which 
they  are  as  far  asunder  as  the  poles,  viz.,  the  ideas 
associated  with  Nature  and  her  methods  of  operation. 
In  other  words,  the  marked  contrast  between  the  crude 
ideas  of  the  savage,  believing  all  things  subject  to  the 
capricious  whims  of  the  most  capricious  deities ;  and  the 
truly  grand  and  comprehensive  estimate  of  civilized  man, 
believing  all  things  to  be  governed  by  law.  For  instance, 
during  the  earlier  ages  of  the  world,  when  day  and  night 
seemed  capricious  phenomena ;  or,  when,  as  in  the 
Australian  legend,  "  the  moon  was  a  native  cat  who  fell 
in  love  with  some  one  else's  wife,  and  was  driven  away  to 
wander  ever  since" — there  could  be  little  wonder  that 
those  who  beheld  the  phenomena  should  regard  them  as 
consequences  resulting  not  from  any  regular  process,  but 
simply  as  the  effect  of  contrary  and  opposing  powers.  As 
yet  the  human  mind  had  risen  no  higher  than  the  sentiment 
of  wonder ;  and,  as  a  consequence,  it  was  but  natural  that 
the  soul,  seeking  for  its  own  prototype,  should  invest  the 


76 

world  of  nature  with  those  peculiarly  mixed  forms  of 
imagination  which  we  find  everywhere  existing;  and 
which,  entering  in  an  especial  sense  into  the  constituent 
elements  of  civilization,  determine  all  our  estimates  of  man 
and  nature. 

Thus  the  main  points  of  difference  between  an  edu- 
cated and  uneducated  people.  Thus  also  the  difference 
in  different  degress  of  civilization ;  all  hinging  on  their 
approximation  to  the  supremacy  and  universality  of  Law. 

And  this  brings  us  to  the  realization  of  a  principle 
which,  because  it  embodies  the  whole  realm  of  nature — 
determining  its  existence,  and  preserving  its  integrity — is 
also  proclaimed  by  the  more  advanced  minds,  not 
merely  as  a  truth  dimly  seen  or  vaguely  surmised,  but 
as  the  foundation  of  all  sound  philosophy  ;  the  sine  qua 
non  of  all  consistent  reasoning,  both  with  respect  to  the 
world  of  matter,  and  the  world  of  mind  ;  the  measure, 
in  fact,  of  our  civilization,  and  the  formative  principle 
which,  more  than  any  other,  so  distinctly  characterizes, 
the  thought  of  the  present  age.  Born,  as  we  now  are, 
among  these  ideas,  and  experiencing,  as  we  do,  their 
influence  from  our  earliest  years,  it  is  somewhat 
difficult  for  us  to  realize  their  true  value  and  import- 
ance. But  still  the .  fact  remains.  The  fables  of  our 
ancestors,  and  the  glorious  imagery  with  which  they 
invested  all  natural  objects,  have  all  faded  away.  To 
some  extent  they  still  linger  in  the  fairy  lore  of  the 
nursery  ;  but  this  is  all  that  remains.  By  an  effort  of 
our  imagination  we  may  succeed  in  transplanting 
ourselves  to  those  earlier  and  more  rudimentary  condi- 
tions which  induced  an  uneducated  people,  living  in 
the  solitude  of  some  dismal  forest,  to  believe  that  the 
rustling  of  wind  among  the  trees  was  but  the  echo  of 


77 

voices  in  a  distant  country  ;  or  that  the  fresh  and 
beautiful  flowers  of  the  morning  had  risen  on  the 
footsteps  of  an  early  god.  In  point  of  fact,  however, 
they  are  for  us  but  as  the  dreams  of  the  past ;  dreams, 
it  may  be,  which  we  sometimes  like  to  dwell  upon,  but 
which,  so  far  as  their  actual  value  is  concerned,  are 
strongly  suggestive  of  Shakspeare's  estimate  : 

"  Dreams  are  the  children  of  an  idle  brain, 
Begot  of  nothing  but  vain  fantasy ; 
Which  is  as  thin  of  substance  as  the  air, 
And  more  inconstant  than  the  wind." 

As  the  matter  now  stands,  and  as  the  result  of  those 
circumstances  under  which  we  are  placed,  we  have 
passed  from  the  rudimentary  condition  of  wonder  to 
the  more  advanced  condition  of  intelligence. 

Proportionately  as  science  has  established  the  idea  of 
unity,  and  the  supremacy  of  law  in  the  realm  of 
physical  nature,  just  so  surely  has  it  acted  in  another 
direction,  and  produced  a  corresponding  change  in  all 
our  .estimates  of  physical  life,  and  the  laws  which 
determine  man's  progress  as  a  rational  and  sentient 
being. 

As  the  Duke  of  Argyll  has  said  :  "  The  reign  of 
Law — is  this,  then,  the  reign  under  which  we  live  ?  Yes, 
in  a  sense,  it  is.  There  is  no  denying  it.  The  whole 
world  around  us,  and  the  whole  world  within  us,  are 
ruled  by  law.  Our  very  spirits  are  subject  to  it — those 
spirits  which  yet  seem  so  spiritual,  so  subtle,  so  free. 
How  often  in  the  darkness  do  they  feel  the  restraining 
walls — bounds  within  which  they  move — conditions  out 
of  which  they  cannot  think  !  The  perception  of  this  is 
'growing  in  the  conscigusness  of  men.  It  grows  with 


78 

the  growth  of  knowledge ;  it  is  the  delight,  the  reward, 
the  goal  of  science."* 

And,  in  giving  this  definition,  the  Duke  is,  beyond 
all  question,  perfectly  correct.  And  so,  also,  is  he, 
when  a  little  further  on,  in  the  same  work,  he  asserts 
that,  "The  instinct  which  impels  us  to  seek  for 
harmony  in  the  truths  of  science,  and  the  truths  of 
religion,  is  a  higher  instinct  and  a  truer  one  than  the 
disposition  which  leads  us  to  evade  the  difficulty  by 
pretending  that  there  is  no  relationship  between  them." 

As  human  beings,  we  stand  upon  the,  confines  of 
two  worlds,  and,  therefore,  the  very  moment  we  establish 
the  fact  of  law  in  the  material  world,  we  are,  from  the 
necessities  of  our  nature,  compelled  to  seek  for  a 
similar  process  in  the  realm  of  spiritual  activities.  But, 
it  may  be  said,  admitting  all  this,  the  question  still 
remains  an  open  one,  whether,  after  all,  there  is  not 
something  sad  and  solemn  in  this  change  which  our 
modern  civilization  imposes,  and  which,  because  it 
brings  man  more  directly  under  the  conditions  of  law, 
at  the  same  time  destroys  much  of  that  importance 
which  we  had  hitherto  associated  with  the  idea  of 
freedom. 

Let  us,  therefore,  examine  the  subject  accordingly. 
Can  it  be  that  we  have  been  dreaming  in  a  pleasant 
sleep,  which  the  sunrise  of  enlightenment  renders  no 
longer  possible?  Can  it  be  that  the  very  moment 
we  commence  to  think  profoundly,  that  instant  we  are 
compelled  to  feel  the  saddening  influence  of  a  voiceless 
universe,  an  inaccessible  God?  Can  it  be  that  only 
in  proportion  as  we  deal  with  the  surface  of  things,  and 


"  Reign  of  Law,"  page  55, 


79 

lead  a  calm,  unquestioning  life,  we  can  realize  a  sense  of 
happiness  ? 

"  Happy  the  many  to  whom  Life  displays 
Only  the  flaunting  of  its  Tulip-flower  ; 
Whose  minds  have  never  bent  to  scrutinize 
Into  the  maddening  riddle  of  the  Root, — 
Shell  within  shell,  dream  folded  over  dream." 

Can  it  be  that,  as  we  pass  from  the  passive  condition 
of  a  thoughtless  existence,  to  the  active  condition  of 
a  thoughtful  life,  just  so  surely  are  we  led  into  a  sad 
and  solitary  state  of  utter  helplessness  ;  no  sympathetic 
intercourse  to  cheer,  no  sense  of  reliance  on  a  benevolent 
Creator  ?  Is  it  so  that,  after  all  our  noble  aspirations, 
our  long  cherished-hopes,  we  are  ultimately  drifting 
into  a  vortex,  where  everything  resolves  itself  into  the 
doctrine  of  blind  necessity,  and  our  fondest  dreams 
appear  but  so  many  spectres,  signifying  disappointment, 
despair,  and  nothingness  ?  Is  it  true  that,  after  all 

"  An  immense  solitary  spectre  waits : 
It  has  no  shape,  it  has  no  sound;  it  has 
No  place,  it  has  no  time,  it  is,  and  was, 
And  will  be ;  it  is  never  more  nor  less, 
Nor  glad  nor  sad.     Its  name  is  Nothingness. 
Power  walketh  high ;  and  misery  doth  crawl  ; 
And  the  clepsydron  drips;  and  the  sands  fall 
Down  in  the  hour  glass  ;  and  the  shadows  sweep 
Around  the  dial;  and  men  wake  and  sleep, 
Live,  strive,  regret,  forget,  and  love,  and  hate, 
And  know  it.     This  spectre  saith,  '  I  wait,' 
And  at  the  last  it  beckons  and  they  pass  ; 
And  still  the  red  sands  fall  within  the  glass, 
And  still  the  shades  around  the  dial  sweep ; 
And  still  the  water-clock  doth  drip  and  weep, 
And  this  is  all" 


80 

Alas  !  poor  human  nature,  is  this  so  ,  then  have  we  lost, 
indeed,  by  the  change  from  our  earlier  and  simpler 
modes  of  thought,  to  those  of  the  present  day. 

That  it  is  not  so,  however,  I  propose  to  show.  And 
this  for  the  following  reasons : 

It  Because  the  idea  of  law  does  not  necessarily 
exclude  the  possibility  of  a  personal  God. 

£d.    Because  the  supremacy  of  law   does  not  destroy 
the  moral  sense  in  man. 

3d.  Because  prayer,  when  correctly  understood,  is 
essentially  a  function  of  our  spiritual  nature,  and 
not  the  ridiculous  impossibility  which  the 
common  and  merely  vulgarized  estimate  repre- 
sents. 

As  to  the  first  of  these  considerations,  therefore, 
what  are  really  the  facts  of  the  case  ? 

Not  that  there  is  one  particle  more  of  inconsistency 
in  a  theistical  than  in  an  atheistical  or  pantheistical 
conception  of  the  .universe.  Not  that  it  is  a  violation 
of  reason  to  believe  ourselves,  in  some  sense,  created  in 
the  image  and  likeness  of  God.  Not  that  it  is  an 
absurdity  to  encourage  those  anthropomorphic  ideas 
which  reason  and  analogy  compel  us  to  associate  with 
the  existence  of  Divinity.  Not  that  it  is,  in  any  sense, 
less  reasonable,  or  less  philosophical,  as  we  stand  in 
silent  awe  before  the  mystery  of  life,  to  believe  in  an 
intelligent  rather  than  in  an  unintelligent  Cause.  Not 
that  it  is  better  for  us  to  apotheosize  Diodorus  of  lasus, 
surnamed  Cronus  the  Slow — who,  having  written  a 
treatise  on  the  Awful  Nothing,  died  in  despair — than  it 


Si 

is  to  immortalize  the  memory  of  his  antagonist  Stilpo, 
who  made  the  idea  of  virtue  the  especial  object  of  his 
consideration. 

Not  that  it  is  wiser  or  better  to  regard  human  nature 
as  a  lone  and  wandering  outcast  than  to  believe  in  the 
possibility  of  a  sympathetic  intercourse  between  the  crea- 
ture and  the  Creator.  Passing  however,  from  the  negative 
to  the  positive  side  of  the  subject,  we  are  at  once  intro- 
duced into  a  group  of  ideas,  which,  even  if  we  limit  their 
operation  to  phenomenal  subjects,  afford  us  at  least  a  terra 
firma  on  which  to  build  the  pyramid  of  our  thoughts.  By 
this  we  refer  to  that  fundamental  fact  of  human  conscious- 
ness which  compels  us,  even  after  we  have  passed  over 
the  scientific  bridge  of  secondary  causes,  to  recognize  a 
First  Cause  as  the  beginning  of  all  things ;  and  which,  at 
the  same  time,  resting  on  an  inherent  need  in  our  nature, 
suggests  the  idea  of  a  personal  Grod  as  the  most  rational 
and  the  most  satisfactory  explanation — a  sentiment  too, 
which,  because  it  embraces  the  axiom  Quod  sentio  esl  as 
truly  as  it  does  Cocjito  ergo  sum,  is  at  once,  both  the 
Alpha  and  the  Omega  of  philosophy. 

Man  exists ;  he  is.  His  existence  cannot  be  subjected 
to  a  process  of  proof.  It  is  in  itself  its  own  evidence,  and 
carries  its  own  conviction  with  it.  The  material  universe 
also  exists.  This  also,  as  Berkeley  f  has  shown,  is  inca- 

t  The  favorite  argument  against  Berkeley's  theory  of  the  non-existence  of 
matter,  and  the  most  popularly  effective,  next  to  a  "  grin  " — an  argument,  moreover, 
which  is  not  confined  to  "  coxcombs,"  nor  to  men  like  Samuel  Johnson,  of  practi- 
cal understanding,  without  any  particular  turn  for  metaphysical  speculation,  but  is 
the  stock  argument  of  the  Scotch  school  of  metaphysician*,  is  a  palpable  ignm-alio 
denchi.  The  argument  is  perhaps  as  frequently  expressed  by  gestures  as  by  words, 
and  one  of  its  commonest  forms  consist  in  knocking  a  stick  against  the  ground. 
This  short  and  easy  computation  overlooks  the  fact  that  in  denying  matter  Berkeley 
did  not  deny  anything  to  which  our  senses  bear  witness,  and  therefore  cannot 
be  answered  by  any  appeal  to  them.  His  skepticism  related  to  the  supposed  sub- 
stratum or  hidden  cause  of  the  appearances  perceived  by  our  senses,  the  evidence 
of  which,  whatever  may  be  its  collusiveness,  is  certainly  not  the  evidence  of 
senee.— JOHN  STUART  MILL. 


82 

pable  of  proof:  "When you  call  me  to  believe  in  matter, 
you  call  me  to  assume  a  certain  substratum  to  the  things 
which  I  see,  hear,  taste.  I  cannot  see,  hear,  taste  that 
substratum.  Why  am  I  to  assume  it?  Has  not  the 
course  of  all  moral  philosophy  been  to  discard  such  as- 
sumptions as  fictitious?  " 

Thus  matter  hinges  on  mind ;  and  mind  gives  reality 
to  the  existence  of  matter.  In  proportion  as  we  realize 
the  truth  of  our  own  existence,  so  far,  and  so  far  only,  are 
we  assured  of  the  existence  of  the  world  outside  of  us. 
Nor  is  this  theory  of  Berkeley's  the  unreal  and  unfounded 
idealism  which  it  is  frequently  supposed  to  be.  Standing 
before  the  great  and  glorious  volume  of  nature,  in  a  truly 
philosophical  attidude,  the  conclusion  becomes  irresistible 
that  while  it  is  strictly  the  prerogative  of  science  to 
trace  the  laws  and  demonstrate  the  unity  pervading  the 
universe,  it  is,  also,  the  legitimate  function  of  philosophy 
to  recognize  the  deep-seated  instincts  of  humanity  as  indi- 
cative of  mind's  supremacy,  accompanied  by  a  conscious- 
ness of  God's  existence  as  an  intelligent  and  benevolent 
Being.  In  fact,  the  existence  of  that  primary  and  dis- 
tinctly human  concept  which  induced  evenPyrrho,  in  his 
moments  of  deepest  abstraction,  to  exclaim:  "It  is  impos- 
sible to  shake  off  human  nature."  And  so  it  is  impossible 
to  shake  off  human  nature ;  and  this,  too,  not  merely 
when  we  regard  the  term  human  nature  as  an  environ- 
ment influencing  our  philosophical  speculations,  but  as 
that  fundamental  condition  which  gives  us  the  disposition 
and  ability  to  philosophize,  and  which,  in  order  to  produce 
a  healthy  action,  demands  the  allegiance  of  our  sentient 
as  well  of  our  rational  faculties. 

Through  the  suppression  of  our  finer  feelings,  it  may 
perhaps  be  possible  to  regaitl  the  idea  of  a  personal  God 


as  the  relic  of  an  earlier  and  unsophisticated  age ;  but,  just 
as  surely  as  the  sun  shines,  it  becomes  impossible  to 
eradicate  the  sentiment;  As  we  grow  wiser  and  enlarge 
our  conceptions  generally,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  we 
will  rise  gradually  to  a  higher  and  purer  form  of  theism ; 
but  to  suppose  that  the  growth  of  civilization  and  the  march 
of  intellect  will  ever  destroy  the  belief  in  an  intelligent 
and  personal  Creator  does  seem  to  us  the  most  inconsistent 
as  well  as  the  most  discouraging  view  that  can  be  taken 
either  of  man  or  nature.  Nor  is  there  more  than  a 
specious  show  of  reasoning  in  those  arguments  which  are 
so  frequently  urged  against  anthropomorphism  Admit- 
ting that,  in  earlier  ages,  and  possibly  even  now  among 
contracted  thinkers,  anthropomorphism  has  been  carried 
too  far,  the  fact  still  remains,  that  any  conception  of 
Deity  which  does  not  recognize  the  quality  of  personality 
is  either  an  absolute  negation,  or,  at  best,  an  unmeaning 
abstraction  which  distorts  rather  than  exhibits  the  idea  it 
seeks  to  represent  Whether  we  regard  the  subject  in  the 
light  of  a  theological  dictum,  or  a  philosophical  thesis,  it 
cannot  be  too  strongly  insisted  on  that,  although  the  suprem- 
acy of  law  necessarily  neutralizes  many  of  our  earlier 
anthropomorphic  conceptions,  it  does  not  destroy  the  idea 
of  a  personal  God. 

In  fact,  the  more  strictly  philosophical  we  are,  and  the 
more  extensive  the  evidence  collected,  the  more  clearly 
will  we  regard  the  universe,  not  merely  as  a  wonderful 
.piece  of  mechanism  regulated  by  the  presence  of  some 
blind  force,  but  rather  as  the  manifestation  of  an  intelli- 
gent Being,  whose  qualities  and  characteristics  are 
expressed  in  the  wonderful  combinations,  collocations 
and  adjustments  in  the  material  world,  even  as  we 
express  our  own  character  and  personality  through  the 


84 

natural  language  of  external  life.     Nor  is  this  all  that  can 
be   urged   in  favor   of  this  view,  even  if   we  rest  our 
evidence  mainly  on  the  existence  and  universality  of  law  ; 
for,  although  it  is  evident  that  the  conception,  of  Deity 
in  a  scientific  age  must  of  necessity  be  different  from 
that  prevailing  in  an  unscientific  age,  we  cannot,  at  the 
same  time,  lose  sight  of  the  important  fact  that,  as  the 
theistical   argument   depends   less   upon   the   mode    of 
production  than  on  the  character  of  the  resulting  pro- 
duct, therefore  the  creation  of  the  world,  whether  effected 
mediately  or  immediately,  through  the  operation  of  law, 
we  are  still  warranted  in  believing  in  an  intelligent,  and,  if 
an   intelligent,  inferentially  in  a  personal  Cause.  In  the 
words  of  Mr.  Martineau  :  "  We  are  told  that  it  is  fetishism 
to  look  on  the  world  as  instinct  with  living  mind.  If  so,  it  is 
that  imperishable  element  which  fetishism  has  in  common 
with  the  highest  theism.     We  are  told  that  it  is  the  -effect 
of  philosophy  to  exorcise  every  spirit  from  the  universe, 
and  reduce  it  to  an  aggregate  of  unconscious  laws.     If 
so,  it  is  at  least  that  effect  of  philosophy  which  it  shares 
with  mere  stupefying  custom — an  infirmity  of  technical 
habit ;  not  any  vision  of  what  is  special  to  its  field,  but  an 
acquired  blindness  to  what  remains  beyond.     There  is 
doubtless  a  different  reading  of  the  world  present  to  the 
mind  of  the  man  of  science,  and  to  the  soul  of  the  poet 
and  the  prophet :  the  one  spelling  the  order  of  its  phe- 
nomena;   the   other,    the   meaning   of    its   beauty,    the 
mystery  of  its  sorrow,  the   sanctity  of  its  Cause.     But 
seeing  that    it   is   the  same   world   which   faces   both. 
and  that  the  eyes  are  human  into  which  it  looks,  we  can 
never  doubt  that  the  two  readings  have  their  intrinsic 
harmonies,  and  that  the  articulate  thought  of  the  one  will 


85 

fall  at   last  into  rytlun  with   the  solemn  music   of  the 
other  "§ 

And  really,  011  a  careful  examination  of  the  subject, 
this  does  look  like  the  only  consistent  and  common-sense 
view  we  can  take  of  it  Between  the  experimental  pro- 
cesses of  the  scientific  man,  and  the  intuitive  glances  of 
the  poet,  there  may,  indeed,  appear  a  very  wide  discrep- 
ancy ;  but,  after  all.  who  will  deny  that  there  is  a  proba- 
bility, as  well  as  a  possibility,  of  their  harmonious  action. 
In  a  certain  sense,  it  is  perfectly  true  that  the  anatomist 
concerns  himself  merely  with  structure,  the  naturalist 
with  order  and  organization,  the  geologist  with  the  strati- 
fication and  changes  of  the  earth,  the  paleontologist  with 
the  fossil  remains  of  extinct  plants  and  animals,  while 
the  poet  and'the  philosopher  are  necessarily  limited  to  a 
less  specific  knowledge  in  this  direction.  Possibly  we 
may  even  go  further,  and  accept  the  assertion  of  some 
scientists:  "Apprehensible  by  us,  there  is  no  God.'1 
But  even  here,  the  possibility  of  a  reconciliation  is  not 
destroyed  or  set  aside.  By  a  process  of  intellectual  con- 
tortion and  perverted  reasoning,  it  may  be  possible  to 
reduce  temporarily,  the  fabric  of  nature  to  the  condition 
of  an  indefinite  pantheism,  or  an  unmeaning  nihilism ; 
.but  that  this  can  be  anymore  than  an  evanescent  form  of 
error  no  one  who  thinks  deeply  will  venture  to  assert. 
At  the  basis  of  the  whole  question,  there  still  remains 
the  very  important  fact  that  there  is  something  more 
than  mere  process  and  change  to  be  accounted  for,  i.e., 
the  fundamental  fact  on  which  all  life,  all  change,  all 
processes  of  evolution  depend. 

To  deal,  therefore,  with  the  manifestations  of  growth 


§  "  Essay*,  Philosophical  and  Theological  " 


and  development,  and  to  exclude  from  our  ideas  the  Cause 
of  these  processes,  is  altogether  an  erroneous  and  superficial 
estimate  of  .the  subject 

Set  aside  the  idea  of  an  intelligent  Cause,  and  what 
we  see  in  nature  as  law,  order,  and  the  most  exquisite 
beauty  and  adaptation,  resolves  itself  into  a  series  of 
accidental  combinations,  a  fortuitous  concourse  of  atoms : 
a  condition  of  thought  which,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to 
say,  is  quite  as  repulsive  as  it  is  absurd.  Besides,  if 
there  be  any  merit  in  ontology  as  a  science,  it  can  only  be 
because  it  embraces  the  possibility  of  an  endless  fruition, 
and  not  because  it  promises  nothing  but  perpetual  bar- 
renness. 

As  science  advances,  and  the  supremacy  and  universal- 
ity of  law  become  more  generally  recognized  and  estab- 
lished, there  must  also  be  a  corresponding  development 
in  the  sphere  of  our  higher  consciousness,  and  a  pro- 
founder  recognition  of  God's  presence,  even  in  the 
simplest  and  most  rudimentary  forms  of  life.  It  is  a 
postulate  derived  from  our  enlightened  consciousness  that 
God  must  be  infinite  ;  it  is  also  a  postulate  of  our  human 
consciousness  that  he  must  be  personal. 

The  early  identification  of  personality  with  intelli- 
gence can  never  be  wholly  destroyed.  Occasionally  it 
may  seem  to  decline,  but  as  long  as  human  nature  remains 
unchanged,  its  destruction  is  impossible.  Uncivilized 
man  looks  upon  the  world,  and  all  things  seem  endowed 
with  the  elements  of  personality. 

Civilized  man  looks  on  the  same  objects,  he  investi- 
gates their  nature,  discovers  their  uses,  and  applies  them. 
For  him  there  are  no  spirits  in  the  wind,  no  awful  eyes 
embodied  in  tthe  stars,  and  yet  he  cannot  escape  the 
consciousness  of  an  all-pervading  personal  Intelligence. 


87 

In  the  case  of  uncivilized  man.  the  sentiment  becomes 
pluralized,  and  thus  produces  polytheism.  In  the  case  of 
the  cultivated  man,  the  idea  of  the  many  is  absorbed  in 
the  one  ;  and  thus,  the  course  of  civilization,  although 
distinctly  identified  with  the  recognition  of  law  and 
order,  in  place  of  irregularity  and  caprice,  is  also  inti- 
mately associated  with,  and  in  a  measure  absolutely 
dependent  on,  the  fuller  and  clearer  appreciation  of  a 
Grod-made,  and  Grod-governed  universe.  In  brief,  the 
elevation  of  the  affections  along  with  the  enlargement  of 
the  reason ;  thereby  realizing  the  truth  of  Mrs.  Heman's 
beautiful  sentiment : 

"  Spirit   whose   life-sustaining   presence   tills 

Air,    ocean,    central   depths,    by   man   untried, 
Those   for   thy   worshipers   hast   sanctified 
All   place,  all   time  !      The  silence   of    the   hills 
Breathes    veneration  ;    founts   and   choral   rills 

Of    thee   are   murmuring;     to   its   inmost   glade 
The   living   forest   with   thy   whisper   thrills, 
And  there   is   holiness   in   every   shade." 

And  now,  as  to  the  second  branch  of  our  subject : 
The  relationship  between  the  supremacy  of  law  and  the 
moral  sense  in  man.  Let  us  ask  ourselves  whether  it 
is  not  possible  to  so  far  adopt  a  middle  course  as  to 
avoid  the  Scylla  of  fatalism  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
Charybdis  of  absolute  freedom  on  the  other.  For,  it 
must  be  observed  that,  although  we  are  compelled  to 
recognize  man's  freedom  in  some  sense,  we  are  also 
compelled  to  acknowledge  his  liabilility  to  law.  In 
other  words,  if  man  is  free  at  all,  he  can  only  be  free 
within  certain  conditions,  and  not  in  that  absolute  sense 
which  a  superficial  estimate  has  hitherto  associated  with 
his  possession  of  rational  and  discriminating  powers. 


88 

As  men,  we  think,  feel,  and  act  under  a  sense  of 
consciousness  which,  from  its  very  nature,  and  the 
relationship  it  bears  to  our  estimate  of  vice  and  virtue, 
demonstrates  the  possession  of  an  ethical  capacity  which 
would  be  wholly  unintelligible  under  a  dispensation  of 
fatalism.  As  men,  we  also  derive  much  of  our  char- 
acters through  the  laws  of  hereditary  transmission,  the 
conditions  under  which  we  make  our  entrance  into  the 
world,  the  long  chain  of  circumstances  influencing  us 
at  every  step,  and  that  inseparable  connection  between 
cause  and  effect  quite  as  real  in  the  moral  as  in  the 
material  world. 

Thus  we  are  placed,  as  it  were,  between  the  contend- 
ing elements  of  two  opposing  forces,  each,  apparently, 
indispensable,  and  yet  so  seemingly  antagonistic  that 
to  admit  the  one  is  in  the  very  admission  apparently 
destructive  of  the  other.  Is  this,  however,  really  the 
case,  and  must  we,  in  acknowledging  the  supremacy  of 
law,  deny  to  man  the  usefulness  of  his  glorious  attribute, 
reason ;  put  out  the  eyes  of  conscience,  and  deny  the 
usefulness  and  beauty  of  moral  excellence  !  Surely  this 
cannot  be.  Far  down  in  the  nature  of  things,  in  the 
constitution  of  man,  in  the  order  and  government  of 
the  universe,  there  must  be  some  point  of  contact  at 
which  these  two  antagonistic  propositions  may  meet  in 
harmony  and  friendly  recognition.  Omit  the  moral 
sense,  and  we  lose  half  the  beauty  of  the  world  ; 
certainly  all  the  beauty  of  the  world  as  it  applies  to 
man.  On  the  contrary,  admit  it,  and  even  if  we  do  not 
reproduce  the  fabled  music  of  the  spheres,  we  recognize, 
at  least,  those  stupendous  depths  and  heights  in  our 
souls  which  give  to  human  nature  such  a  momentous 
significance.  To  attain  this  desirable  end,  therefore, 


89 

and  thereby  to  demonstrate  the  possibility  of  the  co- 
existence of  law  and  man's  moral  sense,  it  seems  to  us 
that  our  only-  consistent  course  is  to  recognize  man's 
discriminating  powers  as  a  part  of  this  very  law — a 
reflex  of  Divinity,  by  means  of  which  the  Almighty, 
without  in  any  sense  destroying  or  even  suspending  the 
existence  and  operation  of  law,  is  enabled  to  communi- 
cate to  his  creatures  a  portion  (infinitesimal  though 
it  be)  of  his  own  powers  of  appreciating  the  right  and 
condemning  the  wrong.  True,  it  may  be  urged  in  this 
connection,  that  there  is  a  mystery  connected  with 
freedom  which  does  not  attach  to  the  doctrine  of 
fatalism ;  but,  even  if  we  acknowledge  this,  and  admit, 
for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  the  existence  of  evil  is  a 
barrier  against  the  recognition  of  God's  wisdom  and 
benevolence,  as  well  as  against  the  validity  of  man's 
moral  sense,  it  still  remains  true  that,  although  the 
doctrine  of  necessity  changes,  it  does  not  remove  the 
difficulty.  Of  course,  it  is  possible,  by  descending  to 
the  substratum  of  pantheistical  philosophy,  to  elude 
the  mystery  of  evil,  by  denying  that  there  is  any 
absolute  difference  between  moral  good  and  moral  evil. 
In  other  words,  to  sum  up  the  whole  subject  in  the 
ontology  of  pantheism  by  declaring  that,  "  Whatever 
is,  is ;  and  there  is  neither  right  nor  wrong,  but  all  is  fate 
and  nature."  For  us,  however,  who  prefer  to  recognize 
in  our  moral  nature  the  root  of  religion  and  ethics,  this 
view  is  not  only  unsatisfactory,  it  is  also,  in  the  strictest 
sense,  repulsive. 

The  realization,  therefore,  of  man's  relationship  to 
law,  and  his  dependence  upon  previous  causes  in  which 
he  has  had  no  part,  quite  as  much  as  on  present  effects 
in  which  he  is  the  immediate  agent,  although  they  may 


90 

change  our  ideas  as  to  the  extent  of  human  responsi- 
bility, do  not,  and  cannot,  destroy  the  existence  and 
potency  of  the  moral  sense.  The  realization  of  an 
orderly  sequence  in  nature  is  the  direct  result  as  well 
as  the  strongest  evidence  of  our  advancing  civilization. 
The  realization  of  our  moral  sense,  and,  in  some  degree, 
the  potentiality  of  human  freedom,  are  also  direct 
results  and  indisputable  evidences  in  the  same  direction. 
Corresponding  with  our  appreciation  of  beauty  and  our 
depreciation  of  ugliness  in  insentient  beings,  we  learn 
also  to  appreciate  the  beauty  of  virtue,  and  to  deprecate 
the  loathsomeness  of  vice  in  sentient  beings  possessed 
of  a  moral  nature.  Indeed,  as  an  apt  illustration  and 
important  corollary  drawn  from  this  analogy,  it  has 
been  well  said  by  an  eminent  authority :  "  The  close 
connection  between  the  good  and  the  beautiful  has  been 
always  felt ;  so  much  so  that  both  were  in  Greek 
expressed  by  the  same  word,  and  in  the  philosophy  of 
Plato  moral  beauty  was  regarded  as  the  archetype  of 
which  all  variable  beauty  is  only  the  shadow  or  the 
image.  We  all  feel  that  there  is  a  strict  propriety  in 
the  term  moral  beauty.  We  feel  that  there  are  different 
forms  of  beauty  which  have  a  natural  correspondence 
to  different  moral  qualities ;  and  much  of  the  charm  of 
poetry  and  eloquence  rests  upon  this  harmony.  We 
feel  that  we  have  a  direct,  immediate,  intuitive  percep- 
tion that  some  objects,  such  as  the  sky  above  us,  are 
beautiful,  that  this  perception  of  beauty  is  totally 
different  and  could  not  possibly  be  derived  from  a 
perception  of  their  utility,  and  that  it  bears  a  very 
striking  resemblance  to  the  instantaneous  and  unreason- 
ing admiration  that  is  elicted  by  a  generous  or  heroic 
action.  We  perceive  too,  if  we  examine  with  care  the 


91 

operations  of  our  own  mind,  that  an  esthetical  judg- 
ment includes  an  intuition  or  intellectual  perception, 
and  an  emotion  of  attraction  or  admiration,  very 
similar  to  those  which  compose  a  moral  judgment."  || 

So,  also,  it  is  well  to  remember  that  the  fruit  of  religion 
belongs,  in  all  ages  and  under  all  conditions,  much  more 
to  its  code  of  morality  and  its  ethical  influences  than  to 
its  theological  dogmas  or  its  ritualistic  ceremonies.  In 
fact,  could  we  suppose  a  condition  under  which  the  latter 
had  altogether  ceased  to  exercise  any  influence,  so  long- 
as  the  former  retained  their  integrity,  human  progress 
would  still  remain  a  possibility;  the  beauty  of  virtue  ap- 
pearing more  beautiful  with  every  ethical  advance,  while 
vice  in  a  corresponding  ratio  becomes  more  hidious,  more 
detestable.  Although  we  are  therefore  compelled  to 
admit,  from  a  scientific  standpoint,  that  there  is  a  perpetual 
developement  in  nature,  and  that  this  developement  is  at 
every  stage  subject  to  the  conditions  and  requirements  of 
law,  we  are  not  for  this  reason  called  upon  to  rule  man's 
moral  sense  out  of  existence.  Certainly  we,  in  the  mere 
admission  of  the  existence  of  law,  are  very  mucli  modify- 
ing the  generally  received  opinion  of  man's  freedom  and 
responsibility,  but  we  are  not  denying  that  man  has  a 
moral  consciousness  which  places  him  at  the  head  of  all 
created  objects.  According  to  the  prevalent  idea,  man 
is  free,  independently  of  all  conditions.  According  to  the 
modified  and  more  rational  view,  he  is  free  only  -within 
certain  conditions — conditions  which,  because  they  make 
up  and  determine  the  circumstances  or  relations  under 
which  we  exist,  are,  therefore,  the  exact  limitations  of 
freedom.  As  the  Duke  of  Argyll  very  forcibly  observes  : 


i ' 4  History  of  European  Morals,"  by  W.  E.  H,  LBCKY,  M-A. 


92 

"  It  seems  to  be  forgotten  that  freedom  is  not  an  absolute, 
but  a  relative,  term.  There  is  no  such  thing  existing  as 
absolute  freedom ;  that  is  to  say,  there  is  nothing  existing 
in  the  world,  or  possible  even  in  thought,  which  is  abso- 
lutely alone  entirely  free  from  inseparable  relationship 
'to  some  other  thing  or  things."*  This,  and  this  only,  is 
the  definition  which  the  profoundest  thought  and  the 
most  careful  observation  warrant  us  in  arriving  at ;  and 
yet  there  is  another  branch  of  this  subject  which  we  are 
compelled  to  regard  in  an  equally  profound  and  earnest 
spirit.  As  a  rational,  sentient  being,  man  must  be 
free  in  some  sense.  Were  it  not  so,  then  are  all  our 
purest  thoughts,  our  noblest  aspirations,  but  so  many  un- 
real existences  which  the  march  of  science  will  soon  scat- 
ter to  the  winds.  Considered  merely  in  this  light,  well, 
indeed,  may  we  shudder  as  we  hear  the  clanking  of  that 
adamantine  chain  of  law  with  which  scientific  discovery 
seeks  to  manacle  nature,  binding  her,  Prometheus-like  to 
the  rock  of  necessity.  Considered  in  this  light,  well 
indeed  may  we  weep  for  the  loss  of  that  moral  beauty 
which,  in  a  less  scientific  age,  so  elevated  and  ennobled 
the  formation  of  human  character.  But  as  we  have  pre- 
viously intimated,  this  is  but  one  side  of  the  picture.  To 
a  certain  extent,  we  will  be  compelled  to  abandon  many 
false  ideas  of  man's  freedom;  and  in  place  of  the  crude 
and  imperfect  views  now  so  prevalent,  to  recognize  in 
the  fullest  possible  sense  that,  although  man's  condition  is 
to  a  certain  extent  that  of  freedom,  he  is,  nevertheless,  only 
free  within  the  bounds  of  law.  But  some  may  say  this  is 
a  contradiction,  for  if  it  be  true  that  law  enters  into  and 
controls  the  realm  of  thought  and  volition,  then  is  it  not  self- 
evident  that  freedom  of  action  and  moral  responsibility 


*  "Reign  of  LawS 


93 

are  simply  impossible.  Contradictory,  however,  as  this 
may  seem,  it  is  nevertheless  soundly  philosophical  and 
consistent  in  fact.  Indeed,  if  we  may  be  permitted  to  use 
the  argument  of  one  who  has  bestowed  much  thought 
upon  the  subject,  and  whose  views,  it  appears  to  us,  pre- 
sents this  question  in  the  strongest  possible  light :  "Law, 
universal  and  invariable,  in  the  realm  of  nature — law, 
universal,  invariable,  in  the  realm  of  human  history — 
law,  universal  and  invariable — yes,it  must  be  so — the  realm 
of  individual  consciousness.  Everything  happens  accord- 
ing to  law  ;  and  since  law  is  the  expression  of  Divine  will, 
everything  happens  according  to  Divine  will :  i.e.,  is  in 
some  sense  ordained,  decreed.  You  will  ask,  then,  does 
not  this  absolute  universality  and  invariability  of  law  in 
every  realm  of  nature,  extending  even  to  the  inner  realm 
of  consciousness  itself,  annihilate  the  free-will  of  man  ?  I 
answer,  No;  it  only  limits  free-will  to  its  legitimate  domain.''  || 
And,  really,  after  all  that  can  be  said  by  the  most 
zealous  opponents  of  modern  science,  this  is  the  sum  and 
substance  of  the  matter ;  while  it  is,  also,  the  only  rational 
estimate  we  can  place  on  man  as  a  part  of  nature,  and 
therefore,  as  subject  to  those  arrangements  and  conditions 
of  law  and  order  which  make  up  the  integrity  and 
guarantee  the  perpetuity  of  the  moral  as  well  as  the 
material  universe.  Standing,  therefore,  before  the  majes- 
tic aspect  of  nature,  and,  at  the  same  time,  recognizing  in 
every  movement  and  every  form  of  adaptation  the  exist- 
ence of  law,  we  are  not  warranted  in  abandoning  the 
idea  of  a  moral  sense  in  man.  The  deepest  researches  of 
science,  and  the  profoundest  reflections  of  philosophy, 
both  indicate  the  possibility  of  moral  sense.  In  our 
earliest  moments,  and  during  our  first  impressions 

E  "  Religion  and  Science,"  by  Joa.  LB  CONTK,  Professor  of  Geology  and  Natural 
History,  in  tha  Univertity  of  California. 


94 

respecting  the  supremacy  and  uni  versality  of  law,  it  may 
be  possible  for  us  to  be  so  far  carried  away  in  our  neo- 
phytic  zeal,  and  our  momentary  idolatry  of  science,  as  to 
rule  man  out  of  the  universe  altogether.  We  may  even 
become  momentarily  spell-bound  by  the  fascinations  and 
the  grandeur  of  physical  science,  and  forget  that  there 
ever  was  a  Socrates,  a  Plato,  or  an  Aristotle.  Beside  the 
grandeur  and  immensity  of  the  starry  heavens,  man  may 
seem,  indeed,  to  dwindle  into  insignificance ;  his  individu- 
alty  appearing  more  an  idea  than  a  fact  The  immensity 
of  the  creation  may  overpower  him,  and  cause  him  to 
sink  into  a  condition  which,  were  it  permanent,  would 
virtually  annihilate  or  at  least  reduce  him  to  a  hopeless 
and  helpless  condition  of  littleness  and  limitation.  Like 
the  clouds,  however,  that  sometimes  conceal  the  brightness 
of  the  sun,  these  conditions  are  but  of  temporary  duration  ; 
while  time,  that  general  panacea  for  all  ills,  causes  us  at 
last  to  awake  to  a  realization  of  the  truth.  At  last,  ex- 
periences rouses  us  to  a  sense  of  consciousness,  and  the 
scene  is  changed.  Science  still  retains  its  grandeur,  its 
beauty,  its  usefulness  ;  but  in  the  return  of  our  more  sober 
thought,  we  have  found  that  we  can  neither  justify  nor  ap- 
preciate the  processes  by  which  we  interpret  external  nature 
unless  we  recognize  at  the  same  time  the  nature  of  man. 
Certainly  we  cannot  clo  this  without,  in  someway,  recog- 
nizing the  fact  of  our  moral  consciousness  ;  while  we  may 
even  go  further,  and  insist  that  in  proportion  as  the  adapta- 
tion of  certain  means  to  certain  ends  constitutes  the  most 
powerful  evidence  of  an  intelligent  cause  in  the  domain 
of  physical  nature,  so,  likewise,  must  this  moral  sense  in 
man  be  given  for  a  high  and  noble  end.  In  some  form, 
as  experience  proves,  its  existence  is  inseparable  from 
the  conditions  of  human  life.  In  some  sense,  therefore, 


96 

We  are  not  only  compelled  to  recognize  its  existence ; 
we  are  also  bound  to  provide  for  its  action  and  influence 
even  under  the  most  rigid  conditions  of  law.  Turning 
over  the  pages  of  geology,  we  find  that  the  air,  which 
we  now  breathe  so  freely,  was  once  so  loaded  with 
poisonous  carbonic  acid  that  it  was  absolutely  unfit  for 
the  support  and  sustenance  of  life.  Gradually,  by  a 
chemical  process,  through  which  the  quantity  of  carbonic 
acid  was  constantly  being  diminished,  or  absorbed  into 
other  forms  of  existence,  the  earth  passed  slowly  but 
surely  through  the  different  phases  of  development 
which  ultimately  rendered  it  a  fit  habitation  for  man. 
This  done,  this  point  arrived  at  in  the  mighty  process 
of  creation,  man  comes  upon  the  scene.  All  along, 
the  entire  movement  has  been  regulated  by  the  exist- 
ence and  supremacy  of  law  ;  and  in  the  new  conditions 
of  human  life,  there  is  no  break  in  the  chain.  In  an 
analogous  sense,  it  would  seem  to  us,  we  are  fully 
warranted  in  interpreting  the  fact  of  our  moral  con- 
sciousness. Most  certainly,  unless  it  was  designed  to 
accomplish  some  useful  purpose,  it  would  neither  have 
been  implanted  in  the  breast  of  man,  nor  yet  would  it 
be  capable  of  those  manifold  gradations,  ranging  from 
the  crude  and  imperfect  ideas  of  savage  life,  to  the 
chaste  and  humane  sentiments  of  refined  society.  Like 
the  earth,  as  it  passed  through  its  different  geological 
changes,  the  soul  of  man  is,  in  the  strictest  sense, 
amenable  to  law.  Like  the  earth,  it  is  also  governed  by 
a  regular  and  irreversible  mode  of  adaptation,  which, 
while  it  enables  us  to  recognize  and  appreciate  the  forms 
of  beauty  in  the  material  world,  at  the  same  time  pro- 
duces in  us  a  realization  of  moral  and  spiritual  beauty, 
as  the  thing  most  to  be  desired  by  man. 


"  Beauty  was  lent  to  nature  as  the  type 
Of  Heaven's  unspeakable  and  holy  joy, 
Where  all  perfection  makes  the  sum  of  bliss." 

By  all  means,  therefore,  let  us  hold  fast  to  the  truths 
of  science,  and  the  universality  and  supremacy  of  law 
which  all  scientific  discoveries  demonstrate  ;  but  let  us, 
at  the  same  time,  beware  of  that  hasty  generalization 
which  would  reduce  man's  nature  to  a  level  with  the 
oyster,  and  which,  in  overlooking  more  than  it  looks  at, 
refuses  to  recognize  in  him  the  existence  of  a  thinking 
and  responsible  soul,  as  well  as  an  organized  body 
possessing  the  elements  of  materiality.  Estimating  the 
probabilities  of  the  future,  by  the  indications  of  the 
present,  we  know  that  there  is  much  reason  for  believing 
that  what  we  term  the  moral  sciences  will  not  rise 
directly  to  a  much  higher  standpoint  than  they  at 
present  occupy.  For  the  time  being,  it  is  probable  that 
they  will,  in  a  measure,  be  subservient  to  the  demands 
of  physical  science,  and,  therefore,  receive  only  in  a 
partial  sense  that  thoughtful  attention  which  they  are 
fairly  entitled  to.  Whether  we  regard  it  as  an  evil,  or 
a  natural  consequence,  in  our  process  of  development, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  there  is,  at  least  for  the 
present,  so  strong  a  reaction  against  everything  pertain- 
ing to  the  supernatural,  that  the  demands  of  moral 
science,  although  incapable  of  being  silenced  or  extin- 
guished, are  yet  likely  to  suffer  in  the  consequences  of 
the  reaction.  From  the  fact  that  our  ideas  of  moral 
progress  have  been  hitherto  derived  from  the  shadowy 
regions  of  theology,  it  seems  inevitable  that  there  must 
be  an  interval  of  unlearning  before  the  scientific  period 
can  fairly  be  inaugurated.  Come,  however,  it  must ;  and 
in  the  change,  men  will  realize  that  the  science  of 


97 

nature  presupposes  and  includes  the  science  of  man ; 
the  science  of  man  embracing  all  those  higher  and 
nobler  capabilities  of  our  nature  which  induced  the 
ancients  to  believe  that  man's  knowledge  of  himself 
were  worthy  of  emanating  from  the  skies. 

And  this  brings  us  to  the  examination  of  our  last 
proposition,  viz.,  the  compatibility  of  prayer  with  the 
supremacy  of  law. 

Under  a  due  sense  of  its  importance,  let  us,  there- 
fore, endeavor  to  enter  into  something  like  a  proper 
appreciation  of  its  claims,  not  merely  as  a  philosopheme, 
but  as  a  real  and  important  condition  in  our  estimate  of 
man,  and  the  circumstances  under  which  we  cultivate 
the  growth  and  development  of  our  higher  conscious- 
ness. For,  it  must  be  observed,  that  unless  we  can  dis- 
cover some  evidence  of  rationality  or  consistency  in  that 
attribute  of  our  nature  which  expresses  itself  in  prayer, 
then  have  we  no  alternative  but  to  admit  that  we  have 
been  victimized  by  a  barren  idea,  and  that,  instead  of 
our  prayerful  instincts  being  the  expressions  of  a  deeply 
seated,  fundamental  law  of  our  being,  they  are  but  the 
embodiments  of  a  foolish  and  fanatical  process — an 
illusion  and  a  sham.  Indeed,  it  is  not  only  prudent,  it 
is  absolutely  indispensable,  if  we  would  retain  the  idea 
of  prayer  as  an  intellectual  conception,  or  a  psycholog- 
ical necessity,  that  we  should  look  the  question  fairly 
in  the  face. 

Is  it  said  that  the  moment  we  attempt  to  analyze  the 
subject,  so  surely  do  we  destroy  its  beauty,  and  demon- 
strate the  impossibility  o'f  its  efficacy ;  while  reason, 
failing  in  its  efforts  to  penetrate  into  the  inner  temple  of 
our  spiritual  consciousness,  reduces  us  to  that  condition 


.  98 

of  deplorable  blindness  so  powerfully  expressed  by 
Milton,  in  his  "  Samson  Agonistes"  : 

"  Oh !  dark,  dark,  dark,  amid  the  blaze  of  noon, 
Irrevocably  dark,  total  eclipse, 
Without  all  hope  of  day  !  " 

To  many  minds,  this  is  doubtless  a  fair  example  of  their 
views ;  an  earnest  and  conscientious  conviction  certainly, 
but,  nevertheless,  a  mistaken  one ;  while  it  is  also  one 
which  arises  solely  from  the  very  common,  but  very 
erroneous,  idea  that  we  can  annihilate  the  passion  for 
solving  what  is  called  the  insoluble,  and  yet  retain  our 
human  nature  in  its  integrity.  The  dimulties  which 
beset  the  question  of  prayer  are,  therefore,  not  to  be 
overcome  by  attempting  to  reduce  our  intellectual 
facilities  to  a  merely  passive  condition. 

Like  Banquo's  ghost,  our  troublesome  questionings 
may  disappear  for  a  time,  but  just  as  surely  will  they 
reappear.     Nor  will  it  avail  us  aught  to  cry 
"  I'll  see  no  more." 

Not  so,  for 

"  Yet  the  eighth  appears  Avho  bears  a  glass, 
Which  shows  me  many  more." 

In  fact,  so  clearly  and  so  closely  is  the  function  of 
reason,  blended  with  the  elements  of  human  life,  that 
the  very  statement  which  denies  the  validity  of  reason 
is,  in  itself,  a  process  of  reasoning.  From  the  possession 
of  our  rational  faculties,  we  exist  as  men.  From  the 
cultivation  of  our  rational  faculties,  we  progress  as 
.men.  "  Quot  homines,  tot  sentential"  is  not  only  true  as  a 
maxim ;  it  is  also  expressive  of  that  diversity  in  human 
nature  which  is  fundamental  because  it  rests  upon  the 
basis  of  reason. 


Surely,  therefore,  it  is  of  no  avail  to  beg  the  question 
of  prayer,  by  asserting  that  it  is  impossible  to  entertain 
rational  ideas  upon  subjects  which  transcend  the  powers 
of  reason.  "Shall  we  dare  to  say  that  this  advantage 
of  reason,  of  which  we  so  much  boast,  and  upon  the 
account  of  which  we  think  ourselves  masters  and 
emperors  over  all  other  creatures,  was  given  us  for  a 
torment."  J 

Besides,  in  every  other  direction,  the  thoughtful  man 
can  very  clearly  discern  the  indications  of  law ;  and 
shall  he  be  asked  to  consider  prayer  alone  as  being 
abnormal  ?  Certainly  not.  If  there  be  any  value  in 
prayer,  it  can  only  be  because  it  rests  on  and  derives 
its  existence  from  certain  conditions  inhering  in  the 
nature  of  things;  and  not  because  man,  as  a  spiritual 
being,  is  exempt  from  the  conditions  of  law.  The 
moment  we  lose  sight  of  this  important  fact,  and  regard 
the  subject  according  to  the  superficial  and  commonly 
accepted  estimate,  just  so  surely  does  the  idea  of  prayer 
become  but  an  imaginary  and  unreal  existence;  an 
impossibility,  an  absurdity,  and  not  a  legitimate  result 
arising  from  the  demands  and  necessities  of  man's 


o 

nature. 


By  getting,  however,  something  like  a  rational  insight 
into  the  subject,  the  view  is  completely  changed,  and 
the  existence  of  prayer  demonstrated  as  a  process 
whereby  we  open  more  fully  the  tendrils  of  our  higher 
consciousness,  thereby  producing  that  change  in  our- 
selves which  is  always  commensurate  with  the  receptive 
attitude  and  capacity  of  the  recipient.  In  other  words, 
a  process  of  action  and  reaction  which,  taking  place 


Essays.'1'' 


100 

in  the  realm  of  our  spiritual  activities,  enables  every 
earnest  soul,  in  some  sense,  to  realize  the  everlasting 
canons  of  the  Christian's  faith:  "Ask,  and  }^e  shall 
receive."  "Draw  nigh  unto  God,  and  he  will  draw  nigh 
unto  you." 

Considered  in  this  light,  the  act  of  prayer  is  not 
something  foreign  to  man's  condition  as  a  part  of 
nature;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  the  perfectly  natural 
expression  of  the  highest  and  most  important  part  of 
our  nature  ;  the  conscious  exercise  of  certain  functions 
which  enable  us  to  rise  above  what  Sir  William 
Hamilton  was  so  fond  of  calling  "  the  dirt  philosophy ;  " 
the  realization  of  something  answering  to  the  demands 
of  our  higher  nature,  which  enables  us*  to  appreciate  the 
beauty  of  Montgomery's  sentiment : 

"  Prayer  is  the  soul's  sincere  desire, 

UtterM  or  unexpressed ; 
The  motion  of  a  hidden  fire, 
That  trembles  in  the  breast. 

"  Prayer  is  the  burden  of  a  sigh, 

The  falling  of  a  tear; 
The  upward  glancing  of  an  eye, 
When  none  but  God  is  near." 

It  is  not  a  superfluous  effusion  dependent  on  paroxysms 
of  religious  excitement;  it  is  a  regular  and  orderly 
procedure,  based  on  man's  needs  and  capabilities  as  a 
spiritual  being. 

Or,  again,  to  place  the  subject  in  another  form,  it  is 
perfectly  reasonable  to  define  the  spirit  of  prayer  as 
strictly  identical  with  that  remarkable  experience  of 
something  answering  to  the  demands  of  our  psychical 
necessities,  which  can  only  be  accounted  for  as  a  conse- 


101 


quence  taking  place  in  the  realm  of  spiritual  activities' 
not  as  an  act  of  caprice,  but  as  the  embodiment  and 
expression  of  fixed  and  irreversible  laws — a  psycholog- 
ical principle,  in  fact,  upon  which  we  may  safely  rest 
that  form  of  Christian  consciousness  which  bears  witness 
to  the  efficacy  of  prayer  as  a  mode  of  spiritual  suste- 
nance, and  which  also  insists  that  the  efficacy  is  so  closely 
allied  to  the  measure  of  frequency  and  earnestness  as 
to  suggest,  in  the  most  pointed  manner,  the  existence 
and  operation  of  an  orderly  sequence. 

As  rational  beings,  we  cannot  help  thinking ;  as  sentient 
beings,  we  cannot  help  feeling ;  and  thus  it  is  that  in  our 
moments  of  deepest  despair,  as  well  as  in  our  moments  of 
most  refined  existence,  we  cannot  smother,  we  cannot 
dissociate,  that  movement  of  our  spiritual  consciousness 
which  impels  us  to  the  act  of  prayer. 

As  Clement  of  Alexandria  expresses  it:  "Prayer  is, 
then,  to  speak  more  boldly,  concourse  with  God.  Though 
whispering,  consequently,  and  not  opening  the  lips,  we 
speak  in  silence,  yet  we  cry  inwardly.  For  God  hears 
continually  all  the  inward  converse.  So,  also,  wre  raise 
the  head  and  lift  the  hands  to  heaven,  and  set  the  feet  in 
motion  at  the  closing  utterance  of  the  prayer,  following 
the  eagerness  of  the  spirit  directed  toward  the  intellectual 
essence ;  and  endeavoring  to  abstract  the  body  from  the 
earth,  along  with  the  discourse,  raising  the  soul  aloft, 
winged  with  a  longing  for  better  tilings,  we  compel  it  to 
advance  to  the  region  of  holiness,  magnanimously  despising 
the  chain  of  the  flesh,  "f  So  said  the  illustrious  head  of 
the  Catechetical  school  at  Alexandria ;  and,  although  we 
are  nearly  seventeen  centuries  older,  the  force  and  beauty 

t  "  Stromata,"  Book  VII. 


102 

of  his  views  still  possess  a  charm  for  every  thoughtful 
mind.  What  he  defines  as  the  Gnostic's  conception  of 
prayer  is  fundamentally  true  as  the  only  rational  and 
consistent  estimate  we  can  place  upon  the  subject. 
Indeed,  so  visibly  is  this  sentiment  a  postulate  of 
our  higher  consciousness,  that  it  seems  almost  like  a 
truism  to  assert  that,  in  the  uplifting  of  our  spiritual 
emotions  and  the  projection  of  our  individuality  into  a 
sphere  of  devotional  thought  and  sentiment,  we  are 
reasonably  and  consistently  arranging  certain  conditions, 
which,  by  a  law  of  reflex  action,  produce  the  most 
important  consequences  on  the  human  soul.  True,  it 
may  be  urged  in  this  connection,  that  this  attidude 
postulates  in  some  sense  the  identity  of  the  ideal  with  the 
real ;  thus  attempting  the  impossibility  of  merging  two 
distinct' existences  into  one.  In  answer  to  this  possible 
objection,  it  may,  therefore,  be  well  to  recall  the  important 
fact  that  "the  world  is  governed  by  its  ideals."  A 
position  which  amply  justifies  the  spirit  of  prayer,  even 
allowing  that  it  did  no  more  than  foster  a  spirit  of 
contemplation,  having  for  its  aim  the  beautiful  and 
true. 

The  influence  between  the  spirit  of  God  and  the  soul 
of  man,  may  be,  as  it  is^in  many  respects,  hopelessly  inscru- 
table ;  but  it  is,  for  this  reason,  (as  the  experience  of  many 
an  earnest  soul  can  testify),  no  less  real  and  genuine.:}: 

The  aspiration  and  sense  of  communion  with  God, 
which  necessarily  make  up  every  earnest  prayer,  are, 
therefore,  not  dependent  on  either  a  suspension  or  a  viola- 
tion of  law,  but  on  the  functional  action  of  man's  spiritual 
organism,  and  the  necessities  growing  out  of  his  psychical 


J  "  Real  inward  devotion  knows  no  prayer  but  that  arising  from  the  depths  of 
its  own  feelings."— W,  Von  HUMBOLDT. 


103 

growth  and  development  So,  also,  as  a  further  elucida- 
tion of  this  principle,  when  it  is  said  in  St.  John's  Gospel : 
"God  is  a  spirit;  and  they  who  worship  him,  must 
worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth ;  "  we  have  the 
statement  not  merely  of  a  general  truth,  but  also  the 
profound  expression  of  a  psychological  principle,  quite  as 
imperative  and  universal  in  its  operation  as  are  any  of  the 
well-known  laws  in  the  world  of  matter — the  introduction, 
in  fact,  of  a  rational  element  into  the  spirit  of  prayer ; 
and  thus,  the  transformation  from  the  absurdity  of  mere 
parrot-like  utterance,  to  the  perfectly  reasonable  and 
legitimate  expansion  of  our  spiritual  faculties.  If  we 
attempt  to  consider  prayer  as  an  effort  to  influence  or  to 
change  the  result  of  certain  physical  conditions,  we  fall, 
unavoidably,  into  two  monstrous  absurdities,  i.  e. :  we 
place  ourselves  in  the  ridiculous  position  of  asking  God 
to  reconsider  his  purposes,  and  to  change  his  decrees — 
conditions  which  necessarily  imply  the  characteristics  of 
imperfection  and  caprice — while  we,  also,  forget  the 
important  fact  that,  as  the  material  wants  of  individuals 
are  as  diverse  as  their  conditions,  it  would  be  impossible 
for  God  to  entertain  them  all,  even  if  he  were  willing ;  at 
the  same  time  that  the  subjection  of  law  and  order  to  the 
demands  of  human  caprice  could  only  end  in  chaos  and 
confusion. 

In  offering,  therefore,  any  prayer  with  the  view  of 
affecting  nature  in  a  physical  sense,  it  is  well  for  us  to 
ask  ourselves  what  we  are  demanding.  For  example, 
the  amount  of  rain  which  fell  yesterday,  or  at  any  other 
given  time  in  this  State,  being  the  exact  result  of  a  long 
line  of  antecedent  circumstances,  and  these  circumstances 
being  again  dependent  on  the  irreversible  process  of  natural 
law,  it  becomes  obvious  that  when  we  pray  either  that 


104 

God  will  send  or  withold  the  rain,  we  are.  asking,  not 
merely  that  he  will  change  circumstances  as  they  exist  at 
present,  but  also  that  he  will,  by  substituting  irregularity 
and  caprice  forlaw  and  order,  destroy  the  regular  sequence 
of  natural  phenomena— a  supposition  which  is  manifestly 
too  absurd  for  any  enlightenened  mind  to  entertain  for 
a  moment. 

Tested,  therefore,  as  to  its  physical  efficacy,  prayer  is 
beyond  all  question  an  absurdity ;  the  lingering  vestige 
of  an  earlier  age,  when  the  conception  of  God  was  of  a 
grosser  and  inferior  character ;  but  no  more  suited  to  the 
present  condition  of  the  world's  requirements  than  the 
swaddling-clothes  of  infancy  are  to  the  full  grown  man. 

Not  so,  however,  when  we  consider  the  subject  in'  the 
light  of  man's  spiritual  nature,  and  his  necessities  as  a 
spiritual  being.  Measured  from  this  point,  and  tested  at 
every  step  of  our  psychological  experience,  the  efficacy 
of  prayer  follows  directly  as  a  reflex  influence  produced 
through  the  instrumentality  of  law,  and  not  an  abnormal 
condition  dependent  on  an  unhealthy  overflow  of  religious 
enthusiasm. 

To  be  genuine,  its  action  must  be  steady,  and,  for  the 
most  part,  silent.  To  be  either  of  these,  it  must  be  based 
on  those  principles  of  law  and  order  which  render  it  a 
mode  of  spiritual  sustenance,  rather  than  an  effort  to 
influence  the  character  or  change  the  disposition  of 
Deity. 

Consistently,  therefore,  with  these  views,  while  it  is 
impossible,  without  properly  appreciating  the  supremacy 
of  law,  to  estimate  the  nature  of  man,  and  his  relationship 
to  surrounding  conditions,  so  is  it  equally  impossible  to 
properly  estimate  the  supremacy  of  law,  without,  at  the 
same  time,  appreciating  that  mysterious  commingling  of 


105 

thoughts  and  sentiments,  now  seeming  heterogeneous, 
now  seeming  homogeneous,  which  make  up  the  sum 
total  of  human  nature ;  and  which,  from  the  dawn  of 
philosophy,  have  more  or  less  agitated  every  thoughtful 
mind.  With  the  expansion  of  scientific  knowledge,  and 
the  enlargement  of  that  intellectual  empire  the  inaugura- 
tion of  which  now  seems  so  propitious,  we  will  most  cer- 
tainly witness  a  gradual  displacement  of  old  and  errone- 
ous superstitions  by  new  and  enlightened  forms  of 
thought ;  but,  after  all,  the  change  can  only  be  considered 
philosophically  and  scientifically  perfect  in  so  far  as  it 
bears  on  the  science  of  man,  and,  therefore,  on  the 
science  of  life. 

As  an  animal,  man  touches  the  earth,  and  is  governed 
by  the  laws  of  physical  nature.  As  a  spiritual  being, 
he  rises  into  those. higher  regions  which  the  immortal 
Plato  loved  so  dearly  to  contemplate ;  'and  which,  though 
not  exempt  from  law,  are,  nevertheless,  so  adjusted  as  to 
admit  the  exercise  of  our  noblest  faculties,  and  our 
development,  according  to  law,  into  a  full  and  perfect 
manhood. 

The  supremacy  of  law  means,  therefore,  a  clearer  and 
better  appreciation  of  God  and  Nature  ;  a  more  enlight- 
ened and  more  correct  estimate  of  the  conditions  under 
which  we  live  ;  it  does  not  mean  the  immolation  of  our 
highest  aspirations  and  our  finest  sentiments  on  the  altar 
of  materialism  ;  it  does  not,  and  cannot,  destroy  the 
beauty  of  virtue  ;  it  does  not,  and  cannot,  deny  that 
prayer,  in  its  last  analysis  and  highest  conception,  is  a 
sublime  necessity.  As  truly  as  there  exists  the  law  of 
gravitation  in  the  material  universe,  so  truly  does  there 
exist  a  law  in  human  nature  which  impels  us  toward  a 
higher  ideal ;  an  everlasting  longing  for  something  better, 


106 

which,  though  disappointed  and  crashed  to-day  beneath 
the  petty  cares  and  troubles  of  life,  still  rises  to-morrow, 
more  beautiful  for  its  temporary  suffering,  more  hopeful 
for  its  ultimate  triumph  in  the  future. 

Surely  this  marvelous  appreciation  which  enables  us 
to  enthrone  the  fair  and  beautiful  form  of  virtue  in  our 
hearts,  this  ideal  longing  which  fills  the  soul  of  poet  and 
painter  with  the  most  glorious  imagery,  and  this 
esthetic  sense  which  enables  us  to  appreciate  the  excel- 
lence of  moral  beauty,  were  not  given  us  to  be  a  mockery 
and  a  delusion.  Not  so,  not  so !  With  "  Excelsior  "  as 
its  motto,  the  human  mind  moves  ever  on.  Systems  will 
change,  and  creeds  decay ;  but,  in  the  midst  of  it  all, 
there  must  always  remain  the  solemn  and  important  fact, 
that  man  is  the  possessor  of  a  psychical  nature  which  no 
philosophy  can  consistently  ignore,  no  merely  materialis- 
tic science  destroy.  Nor  does  it  invalidate  this  branch 
of  the  subject  to  argue  that  everything  human  seems  so 
transitory  and  unreal.  In  a  certain  sense,  it  is  perfectly 
true  that,  as  we  contemplate  the  great  problem  of  human 
life,  it  does  seem  as  if  we  exist  but  for  a  moment ;  a  short 
flutter  of  joys  and  sorrows,  and  we  are  gone.  Indeed, 
so  evanescent  do  the  phenomena  appear,  that  we  may  at 
times  be  amply  justified  in  exclaiming  : 

"  Between   two   worlds   life  hovers,   like   a   star 

'Twixt   night   and  morn   upon  the   horizon's   verge. 

How   little  do    we  know   that   which    we   are  ! 

How  less   what   we   may   be  !     The   eternal   surge 

Of    time   and   tide   rolls   on,    and  bears   afar 

Our  bubbles :    as   the   old   burst,   new   emerge, 

Lash'd   from   the   foam   of    ages  ;    while    the   graves 

Of   empires  heave   but   like   some   passing   waves." 

This,  however,   is  but   one   view   of   the  subject     In 


107 

another,  and  no  less  real  sense,  we  are  fully  warranted 
in  postulating  the  indestructibility  of  mind,  and  its 
accompanying  probability  that  we  shall  realize  in  another 
world  those  beautiful  dreams  which  we  so  often  fail  to 
realize  in  this.-  Indeed,  the  more  thoroughly  we  know 
ourselves,  the  more  clearly  will  we  discover  that  in  our 
best  moments,  as  in  our  seasons  of  deepest  depression, 
there  is  an  instinctive  longing  in  our  nature  for  some- 
thing better,  purer,  and  more  in  consonance  with  the 
dictates  of  virtue  and  true  nobility. 

Philosophically  considered,  the  very  idea  of  person- 
ality necessitates  this  perpetual  expansion  and  endless 
growth  of  our  powers. 

Standing  on  the  "  frontier-land  between  animal  and  \ 
angelic  natures,'"  we  are  necessarily  governed  to  a  great 
extent  by  physical  conditions  ;  but  standing  also  on  the 
same  border-land,  and  directing  our  attention  more 
especially  to  the  psychical  side  of  the  subject,  there  is  a 
profound  significance  in  those  suggestions  of  a  purer 
existence,  those  glimpses  of  an  undying  spiritual  peace 
and  beauty,  which  come  with  a  greater  or  lesser  degree 
of  vividness  and  frequency  to  us  all — those  sublime 
realizations  of  the  true,  the  beautiful,  the  good,  which 
must  always  remain  unshaken  amid  the  waves  of  tem- 
pestuous doctrines,  because  they  are  not  only  derived 
from  the  order  of  the  universe,  but  are  also  founded  in 
the  very  nature  of  man. 

As  Sir  William  Hamilton  expresses  it :  "  Once 
consciousness  is  ruined  as  an  instrument,  philosophy  is 
extinct." 

In  view,  therefore,  of  these  facts,  it  will  be  easily  seen 
that,  although  the  idea  of  law  is  necessarily  hostile  to 
to  many  theories  peculiar  to  an  unscientific  estimate  of 


108  . 

man  and  the  conditions  by  which  he  is  surrounded,  it 
does  not  consequently  destroy  or  even  mar  the  beauty  of 
moral  perfection  ;  it  does  not,  and  cannot,  deny  the 
possibilities  of  human  nature,  by  relegating  to  a  hopeless 
obscurity  the  noblest  instincts  of  our  manhood. 

Without  law  in  the  material  world,  there  could  be  no 
order,  no  harmony,  no  regular  succession  of  causes  and 
effects. 

In  the  world  of  mind,  the  principle  is  the  same  ;  the 
only  important  distinction  being  that,  in  all  our  estimates 
of  psychical  phenomena,  we  keep  clearly  before  us  the 
important  fact  that  man's  rational  and  discriminating 
powers,  his  moral  sense,  and  his  constant  longing  for  an 
ideal  life  in  which  the  conditions  are  purer,  better,  and 
more  beautiful  than  in  the  present,  are,  in  themselves, 
important  elements  in  that  orderly  process  of  Divine 
government  which  we  necessarily  mean  when  we  speak 
of  the  supremacy  of  Law. 


109 


THE   DOCTRINE   OF   HUMAN    PROGRESS. 


PROMPTED  by  a  habit  of  introspection  somewhat 
similar  to  that  which  induced  Plotinus  to  despise  his 
body,  and  influenced,  also,  by  that  aspiration  toward  a 
better  state  which  has  been  the  dream  of  the  greatest 
minds  in  all  ages,  it  is  still  the  sad  experience  of  every 
thoughtful  man  that  there  is  an  antagonism  between  our 
higher  and  lower  natures,  which  sorely  perplexes  us  the 
very  moment  we  attempt  to  examine  into  the  nature  of 
human  destiny  and  the  measure  of  human  responsibility. 

Indeed,  that  wonderful  combination  of  opposing  forces, 
which,  at  one  time  represents  man  as  a  highly  rational 
being,  endowded  with  the  keenest  and  most  exquisite 
spiritual  susceptibilities ;  and  at  another  represents  him  as 
the  abject  slave  of  those  grosser  appetites  which,  besides 
shutting  out  the  music  of  the  spheres,  ends  invariably  in 
that  deplorable  wreck  of  human  nature  wherein,  accord- 
ing to  Milton : 

"  The  soul  grows  clotted  by  contagion, 
Imbodies,  and  iinbrutes,  till  she  quite  lose 
The  divine  property  of  her  first  being." 

Certainly  the  condition  represented  by  this  latter  class 
may    well    cause    us    many    anxious    and    depressing 


110 

thoughts ;  while  it  also  enforces  the  question,  /s  it 
necessarily  so,  or  does  it  proceed  from  some  temporary  defect 
in  human  nature  ? 

To  some,  the  difference  involved  in  the  answer  may 
be  but  slight :  but  really  it  is  of  very  great  importance — 
the  foundation,  in  fact,  of  all  our  ideas  respecting  man's 
progressive  capacities  being  largely  dependent  on  our 
views  respecting  the  existence  of  evil ;  and  whether  it  be 
of  permanent  or  transitory  duration.  In  answering  the 
question,  so  far  as  we  can,  let  us,  therefore,  glance,  in  the 
first  place,  at  those  theories  which  have  hitherto  pre- 
dominated ;  then  passing  on  to  the  ideas  on  the  subject 
as  embodied  in  modern  thought,  determine  whether  it  is 
better  for  us  to  believe  that  sin,  as  well  as  damnation,  is 
the  inheritance  of  the  whole  human  race;  or  whether 
man's  sinful  condition  is  the  result  of  a  rudimentary  con- 
dition, rather  than  the  fulfillment  of  a  curse.  To  assist 
us  in  our  purpose,  let  the  different  authorities  speak  for 
themselves. 

According  to  the  doctrine  as  stated  by  the  West- 
minister divines  : 

"  The  covenant  being  made  with  Adam,  not  only  for 
himself,  but  for  his  posterity,  all  mankind  descending 
from  him  by  ordinary  generation  sinned  in  him,  and  fell 
with  him  in  his  first  transgression. 

"  The  sinfulness  of  that  estate  wherein  to  man  fell  con- 
sists in  the  guilt  of  Adam's  first  sin,  the  want  of 
original  righteousness,  and  the  corruption  of  his  whole 
nature,  which  is  commonly  called  orignal  sin,  together 
with  all  actual  transgressions  which  proceed  from  it." 

According  to  another  doctrine,*  the  subject  reads  thus  : 

*       *  Ratio  Disciplince,  "Confession  of  Faith."— Chap,  VI. 


Ill 

"  By  this  sin  they  (the  first  parents)  and  we  in  them, 
fell  from  the  original  righteousness  and  communion  with 
God,  and  so  became  dead  in  sin,  and  wholly  defiled  in 
all  the  faculties  and  parts  of  soul  and  body.  They 
being  the  root,  and,  by  God's  appointment,  standing  in  the 
room  and  stead  of  all  mankind,  the  (jidlt  of  their  sin  is 
imputed,  and  corrupted  nature  conveyed  to  all  their 
posteiity  descending  from  them  by  ordinary  generation. 

Every  sin,  both  original  and  actual,  being  a  transgression 
of  the  righteous  law  of  God,  and  contrary  thereunto,  doth 
in  its  own  nature  bring  guilt  upon  the  sinner,  whereby  he 
is  bound  over  to  the  wrath  of  God  and  curse  of  the  law, 
and  so  made  subject  to  death,  with  all  miseries,  spiritual, 
temporal,  and  eternal." 

According  to  the  articles  of  the  Church  of  England, 
the  doctrine  is  thus  defined  : 

"  Original  sin  standeth  not  in  the  following  of  Adam  (as 
the  Pelagians  do  vainly  talk) ;  but  it  is  the  fault  and  cor- 
ruption of  the  nature  of  every  man  that  naturally  is  ingen- 
dered  of  the  offspring  of  Adam ;  whereby,  man  is  very 
far  gone  from  original  righteousness,  and  is  of  his  own 
nature  inclined  to  evil,  so  that  the  flesh  lusteth  always 
contrary  to  the  spirit ;  and,  therefore,  in  every  person  born 
into  this  world,  it  deserveth  God's  wrath  and  damnation." 

Such  is  the  theological  estimate ;  and  if  repulsiveness 
were  the  only  consideration,  we  need  trouble  ourselves  no 
more  about  it.  That  it  comprises,  however,  the  sum 
total  of  all  that  can  be  said  upon  the  subject,  no  one  who 
thinks  seriously  and  consistently  can  for  a  moment 
believe.  Indeed,  did  the  statement  embodied  in  these 
creeds  so  far  exhaust  the  problem  as  to  leave  no  margin 
for  speculation,  well  may  we  fall  into  a  state  of  perpetual 
despondency;  while  the  mightiest  genius  may  appro- 


112 

priately  make  for  itself  a  crown  of  thorns,  the  profoundest 
minds  consider  life  but  an  abyss  of  woe,  the  serenest 
intelligence  weep  away  its  fondest  dreams,  and,  with  a  long- 
drawn  sigh,  exclaim  with  Macbeth : 

"  I  '  gin  to  be  a  weary  o'  the  sun, 
And  wish  the  estate  o'  the  world  were  now -undone." 

Sad,  indeed,  is  the  picture,  and  dismal  the  shadow  which 
it  throws  over  all  our  estimates  of  God  and  man. 
Can  we,  therefore,  as  rational  beings,  continue  to  endorse 
a  theory  so  horrifying,  so  debasing?  It  is  one  of  the 
issues  of  the  age ;  and  must  in  some  form  be  answered. 
To  a  contiuance  of  the  theory  it  need  hardly  be  said 
that  modern  thought  is  decidedly  hostile.  As  an 
anomaly,  in  view  of  our  enlightenment  in  other  direc- 
tions, is  is  perfectly  true,  as  said  by  Strauss,  in  his  last 
work,  "  The  Old  Faith  and  the  New  "  :  "  It  is  astonish- 
ing how  a  conception  equally  revolting  to  man's  reason 
and  sense  of  justice,  a  conception  which  transforms  God 
from  an  object  of  adoration  and  affection  into  a  hideous 
and  detestable  being,  could  at  any  time,  however  bar- 
barous, have  been  found  acceptable,  or  how  the  casuistries 
by  which  people  strove  to  modify  its  harshness  could  ever 
have  been  listened  to  with  common  patience."  Certainly 
there  is,  as  has  been  already  admitted,  much  to  sadden 
and  perplex  us  in  our  contemplation  of  human  nature ; 
but  does  it  follow  from  this  that  the  whole  subject  is 
necessarily  embraced  in  that  form  of  theological  dyspepsia 
which,  to  say  nothing  of  its  absurdity  in  the  light  of  the 
axiom  that  "  no  man  can  be  guilty  for  what  took  place 
before  he  was  born,"  leads  us,  also,  unavoidably,  to  believe 
that  "  if  our  native  propensities  are  themselves  a  sin,  then 
the  conclusion  seems  to  be  plain  and  inevitable  that  God 


113 

is  the  author  of  sin  ;  not  merely  that  he  made  beings  who 
can  commit  sin,  biit  that  he  has  made  beings  a  part  of 
whose  very  nature,  as  it  comes  from  his  hand,  is  sin."  f 

Are  we  willing  to  accept  the  consequences  involved 
in  such  a  belief?  Scarcely  can  we,  unless  so  purblind 
as  to  be  unable  to  realize  its  true  character ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  as  participants  in  the  civilization  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  although  we  are  compelled  to  ac- 
knowledge the  existence  of  evil  as  a  disease  or  imperfec- 
tion in  our  nature,  we  cannot,  at  the  same  time,  yield  our 
assent  to  that  doctrine  of  original  and  inevitable  sin,  which, 
although  strong  enough  in  the  earlier  ages  of  the  Church 
to  cause  the  anathematizing  of  Pelagius  and  his  disciple 
Coelestius,  is,  under  the  criticism  and  analysis  of  modern 
thought,  falling  gradually  into  disrepute  among  the  most 
cultivated  and  intelligent  minds. 

In  fact,  if  we  carefully  examine  the  subject,  we  will 
not  be  very  long  in  discovering  that  the  doctrine  of  total 
depravity,  though  still  adhered  to  and  persistently 
preached,  commends  itself  to  independent  thinkers  mainly 
on  account  of  its  character  as  a  fossilized  vestige  of  a 
former  theologic  world;  still  exercising  an  important 
influence,  it  is  true,  but,  at  the  same  time,  destined,  in  view 
of  the  general  expansion  of  culture,  to  become  gradually 
powerless  and  obsolete.  The  fact  of  sin  will  still  remain, 
but  because  our  deepest  reflections  are  opposed  to  a 
belief  in  the  existence  of  a  personal  devil,  and  the  inde- 
structibility of  evil  which  such  a  belief  necessitates,  we 
must,  ultimately,  pass  over  to  a  deeper  faith  in  human 
nature,  accompanied  by  a  growing  conviction  that, 
although  sin  is  undeniably  a  spiritual  disease,  it  is  not 

t Professor  STUART? 


114 

imposed  upon  us  as  a  curse,  nor  is  it  exempt  from  the  cura- 
tive power  of  certain  hygienic  laws  pertaining  as  truly 
to  the  moral  universe  as  do  our  sanitary  precautions 
to  the  domain  of  physical  nature.  In  either  case,  the 
conditions  are  dependent,  not  on  any  arbitrary  enactment 
of  an  angry  Deity,  but  on  the  willful  or  ignorant  viola- 
tion of  law.  As  the  late  Lord  Palmerston,  in  his  appre- 
ciation of  this  fact,  replied  to  the  Scotch  clergy's  request 
to  set  apart  a  season  of  general  humiliation,  fasting,  and 
prayer,  as  a  means  of  preventing  the  cholera:  uLord 
Palmerston  would,  therefore,  suggest  that  the  best  course 
which  the  people  of  this  country  can  pursue  to  deserve 
that  the  further  progress  of  the  cholera  should  be  stayed 
will  be  to  employ  the  interval  that  will  elapse  between 
the  present  time  and  the  beginning  of  next  spring  in 
planning  and  executing  measures  by  which  those  portions 
of  their  towns  and  cities  which  are  inhabited  by  the 
poorest  classes,  and  which,  from  the  nature  of  things,  must 
most  need  purification  and  improvement,  may  be  freed 
from  those  causes  and  sources  of  contagion  which,  if 
allowed  to  remain,  will  infallibly  breed  pestilence,  and  be 
fruitful  in  death,in  spite  of  all  the  prayers  and  fastings  of 
an  united  but  inactive  nation." 

Of  course,  the  Scotch  clergy,  in  accordance  with  their 
belief,  took  it  for  granted  that  the  cholera  was  sent  as  a 
scourge  by  an  angry  Deity ;  but  the  inferiority  of  their 
conception,  compared  with  that  entertained  by  the  Eng- 
lish statesman,  must  be  easily  apparent  to  any  one  who 
thinks  candidly  and  philosophically  upon  the  subject 

In  the  language  of  an  eminent  writer  :  "  This  corre- 
spondence between  the  Scotch  clergy  and  the  English 
statesman  is  not  to  be  regarded  merely  as  a  passing  episode 
of  light  or  temporary  interest.  On  the  contrary,  itrepre' 


115 

sents  that  terrible  struggle  between  theology  and  science 
which,  having  begun  in  the  persecution  of  science,  and 
in  the  martyrdom  of  scientific  men,  has,  in  these  later 
days,  taken  a  happier  turn,  and  is  now  manifestly  destroy- 
ing that  old  theological  spirit  which  has  brought  so  much 
misery  and  ruin  upon  the  world.  The  ancient  supersti- 
tion, which  was  once  universal,  but  is  now  slowly  though 
surely  dying  away,  represented  the  Deity  as  being 
constantly  moved  to  anger,  delighting  in  seeing  his 
creatures  abuse  and  mortify  themselves,  taking  pleasure 
in  their  sacrifices  and  their  austerities,  and,  notwithstand- 
ing all  they  could  do,  constantly  inflicting  on  them  the 
most  grievous  punishments,  among  which  the  different 
forms  of  pestilence  were  conspicuous.  It  is  by  science, 
and  by  science  alone,  that  these  horrible  delusions  are  being 
dissipated.  Events  which  were  formerly  deemed  super- 
natural visitations,  are  now  shown  to  depend  upon  natural 
causes,  and  to  be  amenable  to  natural  remedies.  Man 
can  predict  them,  and  man  can  deal  with  them.  Being 
the  inevitable  result  of  their  own  antecedents,  no  room 
is  left  for  the  notion  of  their  being  special  inflictions. 
This  great  change  in  our  opinions  is  fatal  to  theology, 
but  is  serviceable  to  religion.  For,  by  it,  science,  instead 
of  being  the  enemy  of  religion,  becomes  its  ally.  Re- 
ligion is  to  each  individual  according  to  the  inward  light 
with  which  he  is  endowed.  In  different  characters, 
therefore,  it  assumes  different  forms,  and  can  never  be 
reduced  to  one  common  and  arbitrary  rule.  Theology, 
on  the  other  hand,  claiming  authority  over  all  minds,  and 
refusing  to  recognize  their  essential  divergence,  seeks  to 
compel  them  to  a  single  creed,  and  sets  up  one  standard 
of  absolute  truth,  by  which  it  tests  every  one's  opinions; 
presumptuously  condemning  those  who  disagree  with  that 


116 

standard.  Such  arrogant  pretensions  need  means  of 
support.  Those  means  are  threats,  which,  in  ignorant 
times,  are  universally  believed,  and  which,  by  causing 
fear,  produce  submission.  Hence  it  is  that  the  books  of 
every  theological  system  narrate  acts  of  the  grossest 
cruelty  which,  without  the  least  hesitation,  are  ascribed 
to  the  direct  interposition  of  God.  Humane  and  gentle 
natures  revolt  at  such  cruelties,  even  while  they  try  to 
believe  them.  It  is  the  business  of  science  to  purify 
theology,  by  showing  that  there  has  been  no  cruelty, 
because  there  has  been  no  interposition.  Science  ascribes 
to  natural  causes  what  theology  ascribes  to  supernatural 
ones.  According  to  this  view,  the  calamities  with  which 
the  world  is  afflicted  are  the  result  of  the  ignorance  of 
man,  and  not  of  the  interference  of  God.  We  must  not, 
therefore,  ascribe  to  him  what  is  due  to  our  own  folly,  or 
to  our  own  vice.  We  must  not  calumniate  an  all-wise 
and  all-merciful  Being,  by  imputing  to  him  those  little 
passions  which  move  ourselves,  as  if  he  were  capable  of 
rage,  of  jealousy,  and  of  revenge  ;  and  as  if  he,  with  out- 
stretched arm,  were  constantly  employed  in  aggravating 
the  sufferings  of  mankind,  and  making  the  miseries  of 
the  human  race  more  poignant  than  they  would  otherwise 
be."  J  Such  is  the 'attitude  of  the  present  age  on  the 
question  whether  pestilence  and  death  are  of  natural  or 
of  supernatural  origin ;  and,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say, 
that,  with  respect  to  the  existence  of  a  personal  devil, 
whose  business  is  to  disseminate  the  seeds  of  spiritual 
disease  and  death,  the  tendency  is  in  the  same  direction. 
True,  it  may  be  urged,  with  some  degree  of  plausibil- 
ity, that,  as  there  is  in  every  mythology  a  Power  some- 

$  BUCKLE'S  "  Histwy  of  Civilization  in  England.'" 


117 

wliat  corresponding  to  our  Prince  of  Darkness,  so  there 
must  be  some  fundamental  fact  on  which  a  belief  so 
general  is  found  to  exist.  But,  even  if  we  admit  this,  and 
accept  it  at  its  maximum  value,  it  does  no  more  than 
indicate  that  peculiar  tendency  in  human  nature  accord- 
ing to  which  man,  in  all  earlier  stages,  and  sometimes  in 
more  advanced  conditions,  seeks  to  endow  the  different 
forms  and  qualities  of  life  with  the  elements  of  personality 
— a  sentiment,  however,  notwithstanding  its  universality 
in  all  rudimentary  conditions,  is,  nevertheless,  found 
always  to  diminish  as  we  ascend  the  scale  of  civilization. 
The  impersonation  of  principles  is  necessarily  the 
product  of  an  early  and  uncultivated  condition  of  thought  • 
their  abstraction  and  philosophical  analysis  the  result  of 
an  advanced  stage  of  intellectual  culture.  Should  we 
pride  ourselves  on  having  attained  the  latter  stage  in  our 
development,  we  must,  therefore,  confess  one  of  two 
things :  either  that  the  belief  in  a  personal  Devil  is  an 
unmeaning  and  hollow  pretense,  the  life  of  which  has 
long  since  departed ;  or,  if  real,  that  it  is,  in  view  of  our 
proposed  enlightenment,  an  extraordinary  phenomena,  if 
not  an  inexplicable  anomaly.  §  To  say  the  least  of  it, 
its  existence  4n  the  nineteenth  century  is  a  marvel.  How 
long  it  will  continue  to  exist,  and  exert  its  baneful  innu- 


§  At  this  point  it  does  not  seem  irrelevant  also  to  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  doctrine  of  "fallen  amjels,"  who,  on  account  of  the  war  in  heaven, 
were  "  delivered  into  chains  of  darkness,1'  rests  after  all,  apparently  on  Apocry- 
phal and  not  on  Canonical  authority. 

It  is  true  that  the  tests  generally  used  for  its  support  are  found  in  Jude  and 
Peter,  but,  as  neither  of  these  writers  delivers  the  circumstances  otherwise  than  as 
derived  from  another  source,  it  is  very  convincing  evidence  that  we  have  discovered 
the  said  source  when  we  find  in  the  book  of  Enoch  (an  Apocryphal  work 
discovered  in  Abyssinia)  a  complete  record  or  pretended  history  of  the  exact 
circumstances  mentioned  by;Jude  and  Peter. 

This  subject  is  well  treated  by  SCALIGEK. 


118 

ence,  must  necessarily  depend  on  tlie  result  of  the  coming 
contest  between  Reason  and  Superstition.  Should  victory 
perch  upon  the  banner  of  the  latter,  it  is  needless  to  say 
that  the  manhood  of  the  future  will  be  branded  with  the 
stigma  of  a  detestable  slavery.  Should  victory  rest  upon 
the  banner  of  the  former,  it  is  as  needless  to  say  that 
posterity  will  amply  realize  the  truth  of  Cowper's  remark  : 

"  'Tis  liberty  alone  that  gives  tlie  flow'r 
Of  fleeting  life  its  lustre  and  perfume, 
And  we  are  weeds  without  it." 

Or,  again,  with  Southey: 

"  Easier  were  it 

To  hurl  the  rooted  mountain  from  its  base 
Than  force  the  yoke  of  slavery  upon  men 
Determined  to  be  free." 

In  passing  these  strictures  upon  the  current  theolog- 
ical estimate,  it  is,  of  course,  to  be  expected  that  our 
motives  will  be  assailed,  and  the  tendency  of  the 
argument  pronounced  audacious  as  well  as  injurious. 
The  moment  we  attempt  to  criticise  anything  that  has 
become  deeply  imbedded  in  the  popular  consciousness, 
just  so  surely  do  we  stir  a  hornet's  nest,  and,  in  the 
fullest  possible  measure,  reap  the  reward  of  our  inter- 
ference. According,  however,  to  the  Latin  maxim  : 

"  Magna  est  veritas  et  praevaleMt.r 

With  this  assurance,  we  may  safely  enter  the  field, 
leaving  the  results  to  take  care  of  themselves.  Granted 
the  fact  of  man's  sinfulness,  is  it  indispensable  that  WQ 
should  preserve  intact  the  idea  of  a  personal  tempter, 
or  continue  to  regard,  as  a  historical  truth,  the  account 
of  the  fall  ?  Scarcely  will  any  enlightened  mind 


119 

Venture  on  so  rash  an  assertion.  Certainly  there  is,  as 
we  all  know,  something  in  the  best  of  us  which  fetters 
us  to  earth,  and,  in  some  instances,  comes  upon  us  with 
the  agonizing  rush  of  a  fearful  temptation.  Certainly, 
also,  there  is  with  all  of  us,  in  a  greater  or  lesser  degree, 
a  power  of  introspection,  and  consciousness  of  the  inter- 
dependence between  the  world  within  and  the  world 
without,  which  enables  us  to  endorse  the  experience  of 
St.  Augustine :  "I  sought  whence  is  evil,  and  sought 
in  an  evil  way,  and  saw  not  the  evil  in  my  very 
search.  I  set  before  the  sight  of  my  spirit  the  whole 
creation,  whatsoever  we  can  see  therein  (as  sea,  earth, 
air,  stars,  trees,  mortal  creatures) ;  yea,  and  whatever  in 
it  we  do  not  see,  as  the  firmament  of  heaven,  all  angels, 
moreover,  and  all  the  spiritual  inhabitants  thereof. 
But  these  very  beings,  as  though  they  were  bodies,  did 
my  fancy  dispose  in  place,  and  I  made  one  great  mass 
of  Thy  creation,  distinguished  as  to  the  kinds  of  bodies, 
some  real,  some  what  myself  had  feigned  for  spirits. 
And  this  mass  I  made  huge,  not  as  it  was  (which  I 
could  not  know),  but  as  I  thought  convenient,  yet  every 
way  finite.  But  thee,  O  Lord !  I  imagined  on  every 
part  environing  and  penetrating  it,  though  every  way 
infinite ;  as  if  there  were  a  sea  everywhere,  and  on 
every  side,  through  unmeasured  space — one  only  bound- 
less sea — -and  it  contained  within  it  some  sponge,  huge, 
but  bounded ;  that  sponge  must  needs,  in  all  its  parts,  be 
filled  from  that  unmeasurable  sea ;  so  conceived  I  thy 
creation,  itself  finite,  full  of  thee,  the  Infinite,  and  I 
said,  behold  God,  and  behold  what  God  hath  created ; 
and  God  is  good,  yea,  most  mightily  and  incomparably 
better  than  all  these;  but  yet  he,  the  Good,  created 
them  good ;  and  see  how  he  environeth  them,  and 


120 

fulfills  them.  Where  is  evil,  then,  and  whence,  and  how 
crept  it  in  hither?  What  is  its  root,  and  what  is  its 
seed."§  Nor  does  this  view,  in  any  sense,  indicate,  an 
exaggerated  or  abnormal  state  of  mind.  On  the  con- 
trary, so  strongly  is  the  condition  here  represented  a 
reliable  indication  of  a  "  sana  metis  in  corpore  sano" 
that  we  may  safely  define  this  keen  realization  of  evil, 
and  the  many  anomalies  and  contradictions  it  involves, 
as  being  strictly  the  result  of  a  healthy  state  of  our 
faculties,  and  at  the  same  time  a  sure  evidence  of  the 
clearness  of  our  intellectual  vision.  As  the  matter 
stands,  and  as  we  are  bound  to  accept  it,  man  comes 
into  the  world  possessed  of  certain  imperfections,  which 
very  much  diminish  his  usefulness,  and  impair  his 
happiness.  It  is  of  no  use,  by  any  process  of  sophistry, 
to  endeavor  to  change  the  true  state  of  the  case.  There 
it  is  ;  and,  whatever  the  cause  may  be,  the  effect  still 
remains.  In  fact,  as  human  nature  is  at  present  con- 
stituted, we  are  compelled,  at  almost  every  moment  of 
our  daily  experience,  to  recognize  the  existence  of  those 
glaring  inconsistencies,  those  lamentable  failings,  even  in 
the  best  natures,  which  induced  the  remark,  "  If  man 
was  made  in  the  image  of  God,  he  was  also  made  in  the 
image  of  the  ape,"  and  also  to  propound  the  startling 
question,  "Thus  standing  on  the  frontier-land  between 
animal  and  angelic  natures,  what  wonder  he  should 
partake  of  both  ?''  |  To  the  modern  thinker,  therefore, 
as  truly  as  to  the  most  orthodox  divine,  the  disastrous 
consequences  caused  by  the  existence  of  evil  are  clearly 
perceptible. 


§"  Mwal  and  Metaphysical  Philotyphy"  by  FREDERICK  DENISON  MAURICE, 
Professor  of  Causaistry  and  Modern  Philosophy  in  the  University  of  Cambridge. 
||  HALLAM,  Introduction  to  "  Literature  of  Europe.'1'' 


121 

Here,  however,  the  resemblance  ceases;  here  we 
approach  the  point  of  divergence  which  separates  the 
thought  of  the  present  from  the  thought  of  the  past,  in 
this  respect.  As  has  been  already  shown,  the  ideas  of 
the  past  have  been  strictly  of  a  retrospective  character. 
As  we  will  discover,  as  we  proceed,  the  ideas  of  the 
present  are  essentially  of  a  prospective  character. 
Hitherto  it  has  been  the  custom  to  regard  man's  earliest 
condition  as  one  of  innocence  and  happiness — that 
Grolden  Age  when,  according  to  Hesiod  : 

"Men  liv'd  like  gods,  with  minds  devoid  of  care, 
Away  from  toil  and  misery  ;  there  was  not 
Timid  old-age,  but  aye  in  feet  and  hands 
Equally  strong  the  banquet  they  enjoyed, 
From  every  ill  remote.     They  died  as  if 
O'ercome  with  sleep,  and  all  good  things  were  theirs. 
The  bounteous  earth  did  of  herself  bring  forth 
Fruit  much  and  plenteous,  and  in  quietness 
Their  works  midst  the  numerous  blessings  they  pursued." 

Such,  according  to  the  estimate  of  the  past,  was  man's 
earliest  condition ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  a 
decided  disposition,  on  the  part  of  modern  thought,  to 
regard  the  earliest  stage  of  human  existence  as  one  of 
barbarism ;  possibly  removed  by  an  almost  imperceptible 
gradation  from  the  higher  order  of  the  Simla.  Not  the 
departed  glory  of  a  condition  of  primal  innocence, 
leaving  but  the  ruins  and  desolations  of  an  ancient 
temple,  where  all  was  peace  and  beauty,  but  the 
suggestive  outlines  of  a  gradual  growth;  man,  in  one 
sense,  touching  the  earth  as  an  animal ;  in  another, 
turning  his  back  on  the  geologic  ages,  and  looking 
toward  a  future  of  endless  progress.  In  this  connection, 
it  is  not,  of  course,  to"  be  denied,  that  the  modern 


122 

theory  can  only  hope  to  overcome,  very  gradually,  the 
opposition  which  it  has  to  expect  from  the  dictates  of 
popular  consciousness,  so  strongly  supported  as  the 
latter  is  by  the  creed  of  every  religious  denominatoin. 
A  word,  therefore,  to  those,  who  in  all  such  matters, 
refuse  to  be  governed  by  anything  but  tradition, 
whether  written  or  oral.  Upon  this  subject,  says  one, 
who  spent  ten  years  in  carefully  collecting  and  arranging 
ethnological  facts  :  "  Traditions  may  be  urged  in  support 
either  of  the  progression  theory,  or  of  the  degradation 
theory.  These  traditions  may  be  partly  true,  and  must 
be  partly  untrue  ;  but  whatever  truth  or  untruth  they 
may  contain,  there  is  such  difficulty  in  separating  man's 
recollection  of  what  was,  from  his  speculation  as  to 
what  might  have  been,  that  ethnology  seems  not  likely 
to  gain  much  by  attempts  to  judge  of  early  stages  of 
civilization,  on  a  traditional  basis.  The  problem  is  one 
which  has  occupied  the  philosophic  mind,  even  in -savage 
and  barbaric  life,  and  has  been  solved  by  speculation, 
asserted  as  facts,  and  by  traditions  which  are,  in  a  great 
measure,  mere  realized  theories.  The  Chinese  can  show, 
with  all  due  gravity,  the  records  of  their  ancient 
dynasties,  and  tell  us  how,  in  old  times,  their  ancestors 
dwelt  in  caves,  clothed  themselves  in  leaves,  and  ate  raw 
flesh,  till,  under  such  and  such  rulers,  they  were  taught 
to  build  huts,  prepare  skins  for  garments,  and  make  fire. 
Lucretius  can  describe  to  us,  in  his  famous  lines,  the 
large-boned,  hardy,  lawless,  primeval  race  of  man, 
living  the  roving  life  of  the  wild  beasts,  which  he 
overcame  with  stones  and  heavy  clubs,  devouring  berries 
and  acorns,  ignorant  as  yet  of  fire  and  agriculture, 
and  the  use  of  skins  for  clothing.  From  this  state,  the 
poet  traces  up  the  development  of  culture,  beginning 


123 

outside,  but  ending  inside,  the  range  of  human  memory. 
To  the  same  class  belong  those  legends  which,  starting 
from  an  ancient  savage  stage,  describe  its  elevation  by 
divine  civilizers  :  this  which  may  be  called  the  super- 
natural progression-theory,  is  exemplified  in  the  familiar 
culture-traditions  of  Peru  and  Italy.  "*  Of  course,  we 
expect  to  hear  it  said,  in  answer  to  this,  that  the 
scriptural  record  settles  the  question.  But  is  this 
really  so? 

For  argument  sake,  let  us  admit  the  genuiness  of  the 
Mosaic  statement ;  and,  even  in  the  face  of  this,  it  does 
no  more  than  render  Adam  at  least  a  typical  savage. 
As  Sir  John  Lubbock  remarks,  in  commenting  on  the 
position  assumed  by  the  Duke  of  Argyll  respecting  the 
primitive  condition  of  man :  "  The  Duke  appears  to 
consider  that  the  first  men,  though  deficient  in  knowledge 
of  the  mechanical  arts,  were  morally  and  intellectually 
superior,  or  at  least  equal,  to  those  of  the  present  day ; 
and  it  is  remarkable  that,  supporting  such  a  view,  he 
should  regard  himself  as  a  champion  of  orthodoxy. 
Adam  is  represented  to  us  in  Genesis,  not  only  as  naked, 
and  subsequently  clothed  with  leaves,  but  as  unable  to 
resist  the  most  trivial  temptation,  and  as  entertaining 
very  gross  anthropomorphic  conceptions  of  the  Deity. 
In  fact,  in  all  three  characteristics — in  his  mode  of  life, 
in  his  moral  condition,  and  in  his  intellectual  concep- 
tions— Adam  was  a  typical  savage,  "f  Add  to  this  the 
moral  and  intellectual  defects  contained  in  the  Mosaic 
record,  and  the  position  of  the  Duke,  as  the  champion 


*"  Primitive  Culture^  by  EDWARD  B.   TYLOK. 

t"  Origin  of  Civilization  and  Primitive    Condition  of  3f«n,"by  Sir  JOHN 
LUBBOCK,  Bart.,  M.P.,  F.R.S. 


124 

of  orthodoxy,  becomes  even  more  inconsistent,  even 
more  indefensible. 

Besides,  to  return  to  first  principles,  and  endeavor,  as 
far  as  we  can,  to  enter  into  the  notions  which  actuated 
the  author  of  the  scriptural  account  of  the  creation  of 
man  and  his  fall,  it  is  evident,  the  more  closely  and 
carefully  we  scrutizine  the  subject,  that  his  intention 
must  have  been  to  give  expression  to  a  mythical 
narrative,  rather  than  a  historical  fact. 

The  form  is  necessarily  that  of  an  allegory,  because 
this  is  just  what  would  suggest  itself  to  the  mind  during 
that  state  which  we  may  not  inappropriately  describe 
as  the  dawn  of  reason ;  a  position,  which  we  are  all  the 
more  fully  warranted  in  assuming  in  view  of  that  child- 
like simplicity  which  pervades  the  entire  narrative. 
Then,  as  now,  the  contest  between  man's  higher  and 
lower  natures  was  an  extraordinary  phenomenon,  an 
exhaustless  problem. 

Standing,  as  it  were,  on  the  threshold  of  an  infant 
world,  and  realizing,  in  the  first  movement  of  intel- 
lectual consciousness,  that  there  is  something  strangely 
mixed  in  the  constituents  of  human  nature,  we  can 
enter  into,  and  appreciate  at  once,  the  beauty  and 
the  adumbration  of  truth  which  this  myth  conveys. 
Here,  however,  we  must  be  careful  to  guard  against  a 
very  common  error  respecting  that  remarkable  creature 
which  enters  so  largely  into,  and  which  forms  so  im- 
portant a  feature  in,  the*  figurative  record :  in  using  the 
serpent  as  a  simile,  the  writer,  of  course,  meant  to  convey 
the  principle  of  evil ;  but,  in  doing  so,  we  must  carefully 
discriminate  between  the  idea  which  it  really  embodied 
and  the  significance  attributed  to  it  by  commentators 
generally.  In  employing  the  symbol,  the  writer 


125 


evidently  deiived  the  suggestion  from  the  peculiar 
characteristics  of  that  remarkable  creature,  which,  in 
addition  to  the  marvels  related  of  it  in  antiquity,  was 
especially  prevalent  in  the  lands  in  which  the  scriptural 
account  was  composed.  As  it  went  hissing  about  OH  its 
belly,  it  was  everywhere  the  mortal  foe  of  man ;  and 
thus  the  symbolism  would  not  only  seem  in  accordance 
with  dictates  of  nature,  but  also,  under  the  circumstances, 
the  best  representation  that  could  possibly  be  given. 
The  notion,  however,  of  its  identity  with  Satan  as  the 
Prince  of  Darkness  belongs  to  a  later  age — possibly 
some  centuries  later  than  Moses — and  did  not  then 
originate  with  the  Hebrews  ;  having  come  to  them  from 
foreign  sources:  most  probably,  as  Strauss  suggests, 
"  Having  emigrated  from  the  Zend  religion  into  the 
Jewish." 

Indeed,  so  strongly  is  this  important  point  settled  by 
the  nature  of  the  records  themselves,  that  it  requires 
very  little  observation  to  discover  that  the  notion  of 
Satan  as  the  author  of  evil  appears  only  in  the  later 
books,  composed  after  the  Jews  had  been  brought  in 
contact  with  Persian  ideas  and  sentiments.  $ 

Nor  can  it  be  denied  that  this  later  idea,  in  which 
the  meaning  of  a  simple  allegory  is  so  strangely  converted 
into  a  theological  dictum  supporting  the  belief  in  a 
personal  devil,  is,  in  many  respects,  inferior  to  that 
earlier  symbolism,  in  which  the  serpent  is  used  simply 


%  In  the  words  of  M.  BREAL,  "Satan  assumes,  in  Zacharias  and  in  the  first 
book  of  Chronicles,  the  character  of  Ahriman,  and  appears  'as  the  author  of 
evil.  Still  later  he  becomes  the  prince  of  the  devils,  the  source  of  wicked 
thoughts,  the  enemy  of  the  word  of  God.  He  tempts  the  Son  of  God  ;  he 
enters  into  Judas  for  his  ruin.  The  Apocalypse  exhibits  Satan  with  the 
physical  attributes  of  Ahriman:  he  is  called  the  dragon,  the  old  Serpent,  who 
fights  against  God  and  his  ^angels.  The  Vedic  myth,  transformed  and  exagger- 
ated in  the  Iranian  books,  finds  its  way  through  this  channel  into  Christianity." 


126 

as  the  representative  of  our  lower  or  sensual  desires — a 
transition  of  thought  which,  it  is  also  well  to  remember, 
has  necessarily  produced,  in  the  order  of  its  growth, 
that  grotesque  compound  of  elements  which  the  Devil 
of  the  Middle  Ages  represents ;  and  which,  to  some 
extent,  still  casts  its  dismal  shadow  over  modern  civiliza- 
tion. || 

Under  the  influence,  therefore,  of  this  retrospective 
estimate,  and  the  sense  of  degradation  which  it  associates 
with  man's  nature  and  destiny,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  there  should  be  no  possibility  of  so  far  applying 
the  Procrustean  method  as  to  reduce  the  proportions  of 
modern  thought  to  the  dimensions  of  such  a  theory. 

From  whatever  cause  it  may  originate,  and  however 
much  we  way  differ  in  our  opinions  as  to  its  ultimate 
consequences^  there  is  no  denying  the  fact  that  the 
tendency  of  the  present  age  is  toward  an  enlarged 
mental  horizon,  a  greater  breadth  of  thought,  and  a 
higher  estimate  of  the  possibilities  of  human  nature. 
Apparently,  we  are  living  in  the  same  world  as  that 
inhabited  by  our  ancestors;  while,  really,  the  difference  is 
almost  as  great  as  that  between  Asiatic  and  European 
civilization.  In  the  one,  the  conditions  were  mainly  of 
a  static  character.  In  the  other,  the  dynamic  influence 
preponderates. 

With  our  forefathers,  the  universe  was,  to  all  intents, 
"  a  seven-storied  structure,  in  which  the  Hebrew  and 
early  Christian  imagination  found  room  for  everything 
earthly,  devilish,  and  Divine."  With  us — at  least  with 


II  For  some  interesting  particulars  respecting  the  characteristics  which  have 
at  times  been  attributed  to  this  Piince  of  Darkness,  see  Buckle's  remarks  on 
the  Scotch  theologians  of  the  seventeeth  century  —History  of  Civilization. 
Also,  the  peculiar  Monkish  tale,  "  Celestlnus  arid  the  Miller's  Horse."—  Gesta 
Roinanorum. 


127 

those  of  as  who  belong  to  the  progressionist  school — 
"  everything  has  turned  out  grander  in  the  reality  than 
in  the  perception  :  the  heavens  that  open  to  the  eye  of  a 
Herschel ;  the  geologic  time  whose  measures  direct  the 
calculations  of  a  Lyell ;  the  chain  of  living  existence 
whose  links  are  in  the  mind  of  a  Hooker,  Agassiz,  or 
Darwin — infinitely  transcend  the  universe  of  Psalm- 
ist's song  and  Apocalyptic  vision."  And  as  with  the 
physical,  so  with  the  intellectual  side  of  the  subject. 
Proportionally  as  we  enlarge  our  ideas  of  the  material 
universe,  we  also  enlarge  our  views  of  human  nature, 
the  measure  of  human  capabilities,  and  the  grandeur  of 
that  destiny  for  which,  as  members  of  the  genus  homo, 
we  were  intended. 

Hitherto,  it  has  been  the  custom  to  regard  everything 
human,  as  being  largely  devilish,  and  under  the  penalty 
of  a  curse  involved  in  an  act  of  disobedience.  Hence- 
forth, the  indications  are  that  our  opinions  will  be 
framed  according  to  a  very  different  estimate. 

"The  human  will,"  said  Luther,  "is  like  a  beast  of 
burden.  If  God  mounts  it,  it  wishes  and  goes  as  God 
wills ;  if  Satan  mounts  it,,  it  wishes  and  goes  as  Satan 
wills.  Nor  can  it  choose  the  rider  it  would  prefer,  or 
betake  itself  to  him,  but  it  is  the  riders  who  contend  for 
its  possession."  Or,  as  St.  Augustine  expresses  it  in  the 
case  of  a  mother  having  two  infants  :  "  Each  of  these  is 
a  lump  of  perdition ;  neither  has  ever  performed  a  moral 
act.  The  mother  overlies  one,  and  it  perishes,  being 
unbaptized]  the  other  is  baptized,  and  is  saved." 

But  enough  of  this;  accepting  as  a  more  agreeable 
subject  of  contemplation  the  brighter  and  the  more 
encouraging  picture  suggested  by  modern  thought. 
According  to  this  view,  although  man  is  largely  a 


128 

creature  of  anomalies,  he  is,  nevertheless,  so  constituted 
that  he  needs  but  the  healthy  development  of  his 
faculties  to  insure  his  progress.  In  fact,  that  he  is,  in 
the  strictest  sense,  a  progressive  animal,  and  not  a 
degraded  angel.  §  True,  we  do  not  escape,  under  this 
estimate,  any  more  than  we  do  under  the  degredation 
theory,  from  that  dreadful  mass  of  corruption  which 
surrounds  us  on  every  side.  .  In  the  one  case,  as  in  the 
other,  we  are  met  by  the  fearful  results  of  ignorance, 
brutality,  poverty,  squalor,  and  intemperance ;  those 
distressing  instances  of  .moral  shipwreck  and  spiritual 
barrenness  which  so  sadly  depress  every  thoughtful  mind. 
But,  in  contradistinction  to  the  retrospective  theorist, 
the  modern  thinker,  while  he  surveys  this  deplorable 
chaos,  at  the  same  time  asks,  Is  it  unphilosophical  to 
believe  that  the  God  who  spent  ages  in  adapting  the 
earth  to  those  conditions  requisite  'to  human  life  may 
yet  spend  ages  in  adapting  man  for  the  final  triumph  of 
his  higher  over  his  lower  natures?  As  Lord  Dunraven 
forcibly  expressed  it,  in  his  opening  address  to  the 
Cambrian  Archaeological  Association  :  "  If  we  look  back 
through  the  entire  period  of  the  past  history  of  man,  as 
exhibited  in  the  result  of  archaeological  investigation, 
we  can  scarcely  fail  to  perceive,  that,  the  whole  exhibits 
one  grand  scheme  of  progression,  which,  notwithstanding 
partial  periods  of  decline,  has  for  its  end,  the  ever- 
increasing  civilization  of  man,  and  the  gradual  develop- 
ment of  his  higher  faculties,  and,  for  its  object,  the  con- 
tinual manipulation  of  the  design,  the  power,  the 
wisdom,  and  the  goodness  of  Almighty  God."  || 


§  For  a  formidable  array  of  facts  in  opposition  to  the  degradation  theory, 
see  Sir  JOHN  LUBBOCK'S  "  Prthtetwic  Times.'1'' 

\\  "  Origin  of  Civilization  and  Primitive  Condition  of  Man,"  by  Sir  J. 
LUBBOCK,  Bait. 


129 

Instead  of  reducing  man  to  that  deplorable  condition, 
which  represents  him  as  subject  to  a  curse  imposed  by 
an  angry  Deity,  on  the  one  hand,  and  liable  to  the 
endless  machinations  of  the  Devil,  on  the  other;  the 
disposition  of  modern  thought  is  to  regard  sin  as  a 
negative  rather  than  a  positive  condition :  a  state  indica- 
tive of  the  absence  of  virtue,  rather  than  a  condition  in 
which  evil  becomes  the  substratum  of  human  nature. 
Persist  in  the  old  idea,  and  we  place  the  noblest  part  of 
our  nature  under  the  pressure  of  an  incubus,  which, 
(to  say  the  least  of  it),  is  far  from  conducive  to  a  healthy 
anticipation  of  the  future. 

Accept  the  later  estimate,  even  on  the  ground  of  a 
philosophical  thesis,  and  we  rise  to  a  more  consistent  and 
more  rational  view  of  man's  nature,  the  measure  of  his 
destiny,  and  the  relationship  he  bears  to  those  conditions 
by  which  he  is  surrounded.  Indeed,  even  if  we  with- 
hold our  assent,  on  the  point  of  actual  superiority,  we 
must  admit,  that  the  modern  mind  encourages  a  belief, 
which  is  wider  in  its  scope,  more  sanguine  in  its  expecta- 
tations,  and  more  comprehensive  in  its  estimate,  both  of 
Grojd  and  man.  Evils,  which  a  hundred  years  ago,  were 
piously  deemed  especial  visitations  of  Providence,  are 
now  resolved  into  their  constituent  elements,  as  products 
of  natural  law.  The  causes  that  have  produced  this 
change  of  sentiment,  are  of  secondary  importance. 
Enough  for  our  present  purpose  that  they,  exist;  among 
its  most  prominent  characteristics  being  that  spirit  of 
philosophical  consistency  which  refuses  to  recognize  the 
idea  of  a  discordant  universe,  one  half  governed  by 
God,  and  the  other  by  the  Devil. 

In  a  limited  sense,  it  may  be  true  that  the  modem 
mind  is  compelled  to  acknowledge  the  force  of  St.  Paul's 


130 

statement,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  in  which  he 
says :  "  We  battle  not  with  flesh  and  blood,  but  with 
principalities  and  powers ;  with  evil  spirits  that  rule  in 
the  air."  As  a  general  statement,  indicative  of  those 
alternations  and  evidences  of  frailty  which  every  human 
being,  more  or  less,  realizes,  no  thoughtful  man  will 
reject  the  simile.  But,  to  press  the  statement  further, 
and  insist  on  its  literal  acceptation,  is  to  make  a  demand 
which  modern  thought  will  not  assent  to. 

The  specific  difference  between  the  ancient  and 
modern  theories  consists  in  the  fact  that  while  the  one 
adheres  literally  to  the  idea  of  an  immensely  powerful 
demonology  as  the  cause  of  evil,  the  other  relegates  the 
whole  subject  of  the  Devil  and  his  imps  to  that  region 
of  myth  in  which  the  human  mind,  in  its  earlier  stages, 
delights  to  dwell ;  and  which,  as  in  the  Persian  mythol- 
ogy, embodied  the  idea  of  evil  in  the  person  of  Ahriman, 
as  the  author  of  darkness,  the  creator  of  wild  beasts, 
poisonous  serpents,  etc.,  and  the  cause  of  diseases,  earth- 
quakes and  storms;  the  opposite  idea  of  good  being 
correspondingly  expressed  in  the  person  of  Ormuzd,  as 
the  creator  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  and  the  cause  of 
everything  that  contributes  to  man's  happiness.  In  the 
one  case,  the  sentiment  is  the  result  of  the  earlier  and 
more  rudimentary  condition  of  Animism.  In  the  other, 
it  is  indicative  of  that  higher  stage  of  intellectual  culture 
which  not  only  denotes  a  more  advanced  condition  of 
civilization,  but  which,  at  the  same  time,  refuses  to 
believe  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  intrinsic  evil.  In 
other  words,  while  it  recognizes  the  fact  of  man's  imper- 
fections and  inconsistencies,  it  holds  fondly  and  persist- 
ingly  to  the  idea  that  evil  is  but  an  evanescent 
phenomenon,  which  time  and  experience  will  gradually 


181 

remove.  Nor  does  it  avail  to  argue  that  trie  testimony 
of  history  is  opposed  to  this  theory  of  gradual  develop- 
ment, which  regards  nothing  as  thoroughly  and  essentially 
vile,  and  which,  also,  would  apply  the  principle  of 
continuity,  and  gradual  growth,  to  the  problem  of  human 
progress.  That  there  do  exist  instances  of  retrogression, 
as  well  as  of  progression,  in  the  records  of  history,  is 
undeniable ;  but  that  these  instances  may  be  fitly  com- 
pared with  the  periods  of  declination  in  the  magnetic 
needle  is  equally  obvious  to  any  one  who  tests  the 
subject  by  a  comprehensive  estimate.  They  indicate 
temporary  variations,  not  permanent  disturbances.  In 
the  long  line  of  the  past,  nation  after  nation  has  taken 
up  the  beacon-light  of  civilization,  leading  others  on- 
ward and  upward  until  some  defect  has  gradually 
produced  ruin  and  decay. 

"  Another  day  is  added  to  the  map 
Of  buried  ages." 

We  mourn  over  the  monumental  remains  of  civilizations 
long  since  passed  away  ;  we  shudder  at  the  possibility  of 
Macaulay's  New  Zealarider  ever  contemplating  the  ruins 
of  St.  Paul's ;  we  are  depressed  at  the  the  Sisyphean 
character  of  our  civilization ;  and  we  wonder,  in  our 
sadness,  why  such  things  are  permitted. 

In  our  perplexity,  we  may  be  inclined  to  give  up  the 
problem  in  despair ;  but  this  is  unmanly,  unphilosophical. 
For  a  time,  there  may  exist  a  transitional  phase  of 
darkness,  but  it  cannot,  in  the  nature  of  things,  be 
permanent.  Evidences  which,  at 'first  sight,  appear  to 
contradict  the  idea  of  continuity  and  the  perpetuity  of 
progress  as  a  component  part  of  man's  destiny,  upon  a 
closer  examination  are  found  to  prove,  rather  than  to 
disprove,  the  theory.  It  is  for  a  time,  and  for  a  time 


132 

only,  that  the  march  of  advancement  seems  to  he 
arrested,  and  the  hopes  of  humanity  to  be  buried  beneath 
the  ruins  of  departed  greatness  and  promise.  In  the 
revolution  of  ages,  empires  and  dynasties  have  passed, 
away,  but  the  elements  of  good  that  they  contained  are 
indestructible — they  are  with  us  still. 

For  instance,  who  that  studies  carefully  the  charac- 
teristics of  modern  thought  can  be  otherwise  than 
impressed  with  the  fact  that,  although  the  glory  of 
Greece  and  the  grandeur  of  Eome  have  long  since 
departed,  the  present  age  is,  in  a  very  large  measure, 
a  reflection  of  their  ideas  and  sentiments.  The  strict 
sense  of  Eoman  justice  has  given  us  our  modern 
jurisprudence ;  *  the  spirit  of  Koman  manliness,  combined 
with  the  Saxon  love  of  freedom,  is,  to  a  very  great  extent, 
the  terra  firma  of  our  republican  principles  and  insti- 
tutions. 

As  for  Greece,  it  would  hardly  seem  necessary  to 
dwell  upon  a  fact  which  is,  more  or  less,  familiar  to  every 
school-boy  ;  and  which  we  all,  in  some  measure,  realize, 
either  through  the  productions  of  her  artists,  her  poets, 
or  her  philosophers.  There  is  a  charm  in  her  name,  a 
fascination  in  her  literature,  and  a  majestic  grandeur  in 
her  intellectual  stature  which  speak  so  forcibly  for 
themselves  as  to  scarcely  require  any  additional  empha- 
sis. And  yet  there  is  a  tribute,  paid  by  Macaulay, 


*  The  vain  titles  of  victories  of  Justinian  are  crumbled  into  dust,  but  the 
name  of  the  legislator  is  inscribed  on  a  fair  and  everlasting  monument  Under 
his  reign,  and  by  his  care,  the  civil  jurisprudence  was  digested  in  the  immortal 
works  of  the  Code,  the  Pandects,  and  the  Institutes;  the  public  reason  of  the 
Romans  has  been  silently  or  studiously  transfused  into  the  domestic  institutions 
of  Europe,  and  the  laws  of  Justinian  still  command  the  respect  or  obedience 
of  independent  nations.— GIBBON'S  "History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire.'1'' 


183 

to  the  influence  of  the  literature  of  Athens  which  we 
cannot  refrain  from  quoting.  It  is  so  beautifully 
expressed,  and,  at  the  same  time,  so  just,  that  it  will, 
perhaps,  in  a  fuller  measure,  enable  us  to  appreciate  the 
magnitude  of  the  debt  which  we  owe  in  this  direction. 
Says  he  :  "  It  is  a  subject  on  which  I  love  to  forget  the 
accuracy  [of  a  judge,  in  the  veneration  of  a  worshiper, 
and  the  gratitude  of  a  child.  If  we  consider  merely  the 
subtlety  of  disquisition,  the  force  of  imagination,  the 
perfect  energy  and  eloquence  of  expression,  which 
characterize  the  great  works  of  Athenian  genius,  we 
must  pronounce  them  intrinsically  most  valuable ;  but 
what  shall  we  say  when  we  reflect  that  from  hence  have 
sprung,  directly  or  indirectly,  all  the  noblest  creations  of 
the  human  intellect — that  from  hence  were  the  vast 
accomplishments  and  the  brilliant  fancy  of  Cicero ;  the 
withering  fire  of  Jnivenal ;  the  plastic  imagination  of 
Dante ;  the  humor  of  Cervantes ;  the  comprehension  of 
Bacon ;  the  wit  of  Butler ;  the  supreme  and  universal 
excellence  of  Shakspeare  ?  All  the  triumphs  of  truth 
and  genius  over  prejudice  and  power,  in  every  country 
and  in  every  age,  have  been  the  triumphs  of  Athens. 
Wherever  a  few  great  minds  have  made  a  stand  against 
violence  and  fraud,  in  the  cause  of  liberty  and  reason, 
there  has  been  her  spirit  in  the  midst  of  them — inspiring, 
encouraging,  consoling  ;  by  the  lonely  lamp  of  Erasmus ; 
by  the  restless  bed  of  Pascal  ;  in  the  tribune  of  Mira- 
beau ;  in  the  cell  of  Galileo ;  on  the  scaffold  of  Sydney. 
But  who  shall  estimate  her  influence  on  private  happi- 
ness? Who  shall  say  how  many  thousands  have  been 
made  wiser,  happier,  and  better,  by  those  pursuits  in 
which  she  has  taught  mankind  to  engage?  To  how 
many  the  studies,  which  took  their  rise  from  her,  have 


134 

been  wealth   in   poverty,   liberty  in  bondage,  health  in 
sickness,    society   in    solitude?      Her  power  is   indeed 
manifested   at   the   bar,    in   the  senate,  in  the  field  of 
battle,  in  the  schools  of  philosophy.     But  these  are  not 
her   glory.       Wherever   literature    consoles    sorrow,   or 
assuages  pain,  wherever  it  brings  gladness  to  eyes  which 
fail  with  wakefulness  and  tears,  and  ache  for  the  dark 
house  and  the  long  sleep,  there  is  exhibited,  in  its  noblest 
form,  the  immortal  influence  of  Athens.    The  dervise,  in 
the  Arabian  tale,   did  not  hesitate  to  abandon  to  his 
comrade  the  camels  with  their  load  of  jewels  and  gold, 
while  he  retained  the  casket  of  that  mysterious   juice 
which  enabled   him  to  behold  at    one  glance   all   the 
hidden  riches  of  the  universe.     Surely  it  is  no  exaggera- 
tion to  say  that  no  external  advantage  is  to  be  compared 
with   that  purification   of   the   intellectual   eye    which 
gives  us  to  contemplate  the  infinite  wealth  of  the  mental 
world,  all  the  hoarded  treasures  of  its  primeval  dynasties, 
all  the  shapeless  ore  of  its  yet  unexplored  mines.     This 
is  the  gift  of  Athens  to  man.      Her  freedom  and  her 
power   have,    for   more    than    twenty    centuries,    been 
annihilated ;    her  people  have   degenerated   into  timid 
slaves,    her  language   into    a    barbarous    jargon;    her 
temples  have  been  given  up  to  the  successive  depreda- 
tions   of    Kornans,    Turks,    and   Scotchmen;    but    her 
intellectual  empire  is  imperishable.      And  when  those 
who  have  rivaled  her  greatness  shall  have  shared  her 
fate ;  when  civilization  and  knowledge  shall  have  fixed 
their   abodes   in   distant   continents;  when  the   scepter 
shall  have  passed  away  from  England;  when,  perhaps, 
travelers  from  distant  regions  shall,   in  vain,    labor  to 
decipher  on  some  mouldering  pedestal  the  name  of  our 
proudest   chief — shall   hear   savage   hymns   chanted   to 


135 

some  misshapen  idol  over  the  rained  dome  of  our 
proudest  temple,  and  shall  see  a  naked  fisherman  wash 
his  nets  in  the  river  of  the  ten  thousand  masts — her 
influence  and  her  glory  will  still  survive,  fresh  in  eternal 
youth,  exempt  from  mlitability  and  decay,  immortal  as 
the  intellectual  principle  from  which  they  derived  their 
origin  and  over  which  they  exercise  their  control/'  So 
it  is  as  regards  the  influences  of  the  past  upon  the 
present;  so  it  must  also  be  as  regards  'the  influences  of 
present  upon  the  future.  Through  the  principles  of 
hereditary  transmission,  the  qualities  of  one  age  con- 
tribute, in  a  very  important  sense,  toward  the  formation 
of  character  in  the  next.  In  the  realm  of  human 
activities,  as  is  the  case  with  physical  nature,  there  is  no 
condition  of  growth  independent  of  antecedent  circum- 
stances. 

Civilization  is  a  process  governed  by  natural  and 
immutable  laws,  and  not  an  introduction  into  fairy-land 
where  everything  can  be  determined  by  the  influences 
of  magical  instrumentality.  And  just  here  we  arrive  at  a 
phase  in  our  subject  in  which  Ave  cannot  too  clearly 
realize  that  inexorable  relationship  between  causes  and 
their  effects  which  determines  the  fate  of  nations  as 
well  as  individuals. 

It  is  written  in  indelible  characters  in  all  -the  records 
of  departed  civilizations ;  it  stands  to-day  as  the  obvious 
danger  of  our  present  condition — a  sad  and  solemn 
specter,  which  no  thoughtful  man  can  help  seeing ;  and 
which,  while  it  reminds  us  of  the  experience  of -the  past, 
prophetically  indicates  our  danger  in  the  future. 

By  this,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  state  that  we  allude, 
in  an  especial  sense,  to  that  pernicious  estimate  which 
fails  to  discover  the  indestructibilty  of  sequence  in  the 


136 

moral  universe — that  purblind  sentiment  which  settles 
into  a  sense  of  complacency  and  inanition,  while  our 
social,  political,  and  moral  atmosphere  is  daily  becoming 
more  and  more  contaminated  through  the  detestable  forms 
of  vice  and  corruption  which  surround  us  on  every  side ; 
and  when  even  our  sense  of  patriotism  seems  to  have  so 
far  left  us  that  we  hand  over  the  preservation  of  our 
liberties  to  base,  unprincipled  demagogues,  while  men 
of  honor,  purity,  and  culture,  are  kept  in  a  hopeless  and 
helpless  minority. 

Conceal  it  as  we  will,  it  is  an  undeniable  fact  that  the 
moral  tone  of  the  country  is  at  an  ebb.  Deceive  our- 
selves as  we  will,  it  is,  also,  tr^ue  that  this  decline  cannot 
exist  without  producing  the  most  disastrous  consequences. 
Descending  for  a  moment  from  the  higher  to  the  lower 
strata  of  society,  can  we  suppose  that  our  prisons  would 
contain  one  half  their  present  number  of  inhabitants  if 
society  was  pervaded  by  a  different  moral  atmosphere  ? 
Certainly  not.  Acting  under  a  Pharisaic  sense  of  superi- 
ority, accompanied  by  a  willful  blindness  to  facts  as  they 
are,  we  have  been  too  apt  to  regard  these  unfortunate 
creatures  as  exceptional  and  unnatural  productions  of 
society  ;  whereas,  the  truth  is  that  they  indicate  a  guilty 
society,  quite  as  truly  as  they  indicate  guilty  individuals. 
In  other  words,  as  it  is  impossible  for  any  malaria  to 
exist  under  healthy  atmospheric  conditions,  so  is  it 
impossible  for  crime  to  exist,  either  in  an  endemic  or 
epidemic  form,  without  the  presence  of  certain  impurities 
in  our  moral  atmosphere,  operating  as  so  many  deleterious 
influences  and  causes  of  disease.  It.  is  not  that  our  state- 
prisons  and  our  penitentiaries  are  so  many  luxuries  which 
we  cannot  afford  to  dispense  with,  so  many  museums  in 
which  the  virtuous  man  may  study  the  curiosities  of 


137 

crime,  and  congratulate  himself  on  the  contrast.  That 
this  is  a  common  opinion,  arising  from  a  Combination  of 
ignorance  and  egotism,  may  possibly  be  true ;  but  that 
it  is  a  sentiment  diametrically  opposed  to  the  dictates  of 
reason  and  reflection  is  equally  apparent.  Let  us  persist 
in  holding  to  the  idea  which  represents  criminals  as 
abnormal  productions,  and  we  are  deceiving  ourselves, 
and  dealing  unjustly  with  them.  Let  us,  on  the  other 
hand,  realize  the  important  fact  that  they  are,  to  a  very 
great  exteiit,  the  representative  men  of  the  nation,  and  we 
will  very  soon  discover  the  measure  of  the  responsibility 
which  rests  upon  us.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  \v  o 
can  remedy  the  evil  by  merely  caging  these  unfortunates 
for  a  season,  as  if  they  were  wild  beasts,  and  then  letting 
them  loose  on  society  again  to  re-enact  their  former  lives, 
and  reap  the  same  results.  In  its  way,  punishment  is 
well,  it  is  a  necessity ;  but  until  we  have  thoroughly 
realized  that  it  has  a  remedial  as  well  as  a  retributive 
aspect,  we  are  sadly  wanting  in  the  most  indispensable 
element  of  progress,  viz.,  a  proper  appreciation  of  that 
immutability  of  sequence  in  the  moral  world  to  which, 
we  have  before  alluded,  and  which,  in  the  most  emphatic 
manner,  proclaims  the  necessity  of  our  elevating  this 
seething  mass  of  ignorance  and  corruption  by  which  we 
are  surrounded.  By  all  means,  let  our  laws  express  the 
greatest  possible  abhorrence  of  crime  and  uncleanness, 
the  greatest  possible  veneration  for  purity  of  character 
and  an  unblemished  integrity.  Let  them  canonize 
virtue,  and  denounce  vice.  It  is  an  indispensable  part  of 
our  ethical  culture  that  it  should  be  so.  But  this  is  not 
all.  As  we  examine  into  the  subject,  and  endeavor  as 
far  as  possible  to  separate  the  seeming  from  the  real,  we 
are  met  .by  the  startling  fact  that  there  is  something 


138 

radically  wrong  in  our  entire  moral  system ;  that  much 
of  the  glitter  of  society,  and  almost  all  the  usages  of  our 
businesss  life,  are  but  so  many  forms  of  shining  putres- 
cence; so  many  instances  of  moral  decomposition  and 
decay.  The  moral  distemper  which  disgraces  our  places 
of  public  trust,  no  less  than  the  seething  mass  of  igno- 
rance and  pauperism  which  produce  our  burglars  and 
murderers,  is  an  excrescence  which  demands  our  imme- 
diate attention. 

In  view  of  our  national  resources  and  wonderful 
elasticity  of  character,  the  day  of  retribution  may  be 
indefinitely  postponed ;  but  that  it  must  come,  sooner  or 
later,  unless  we  can  rid  ourselves  of  these  demoralizing 
influences,  no  sane  man  can  for  a  moment  doubt.  With 
us,  as  with  those  civilizations  that  have  preceded  us,  all 
real  progress  depends  upon  the  quality  of  our  principles  ; 
the  quality  of  our  principles,  upon  the  character  of  our 
moral  ideal. 

And  this  brings  us  to  the  question  of  a  complete  and 
universal  system  of  education  as  the  most  satisfactory 
foundation  on  which  to  build  our  hopes  of  the  future. 
"We  must  educate  our  masters  "  is  not  only  true  in  the 
sarcastic  sense  in  which  Mr.  Lowe  applied  it  to  the 
growth  of  democracy  in  England :  it  is  also  true  as  a 
principle  underlying  the  whole  subject  of  political 
economy,  and  strictly  pertaining  to  the  philosophy  of 
progress  ;  a  principle,  also,  which,  if  applicable  to  the 
British  form  of  government,  is  especially  applicable  to 
this  country,  where  a  man's  right  to  a  voice  in  the 
government  consists  in  the  simple  fact  of  his  being  an 
American  citizen. 

To  some  extent  we  have  already  realized  the  import- 
ance of  this  subject,  and  in  the  erection  of  our  public 


139 

schools  made  a  very  commendable  effort  toward  its 
general  application.  But  the  trouble  is  we  do  not  realize 
sufficiently  that  education  is  not  a  process  of  unnatural 
cramming — apparently  adopted  from  the  method  of 
enlarging  the  liver  of  the  Strasburg  goose.  Neither  does 
it  consist  in  that  circumscribed  theory  which  would  lead 
us  to  suppose  that  education  is  a  thing  of  schools  and 
books  merely,  or  even  mainly.  In  their  way,  they  are, 
of  course,  indispensable  ;  but  to  draw  the  line  here,  and, 
in  so  doing,  lose  sight  of  the  immense  space  which  life 
and  experience  and  personal  thinking  and  feeling  must 
necessarily  fill  in,  is,  indeed,  to  fall  miserably  short  in  our 
estimate.. 

There  can,  of  course,  be  no  education  without  some 
instruction,  but  there  may  be  a  great  deal  of  instruction 
without  education.  Indeed,  the  Latan  word  educo,  from 
which  our  English  word  education  is  derived,  meaning,  as 
it  does,  a  leading  forth,  is  in  itself  conclusive  evidence 
that  the  best-educated  man  is  not,  strictly  speaking,  he 
ivho  knows  most,  but  he  who  can  do  most- 

The  extent  and  quality  of  our  knowledge  must 
always  influence  the  character  of  our  habits  ;  but,  after 
all,  the  highest  wisdom,  combined  with  the  grandest  aim 
of  education,  does  not  so  much  consist  in  what  ive 
know,  as  ivhat  we  are. 

This,  it  will  be  seen,  necessarily  brings  us  to  the 
indispensability  of  an  appropriate  moral  ideal  as  an  influ- 
ence coordinate  with  the  development  of  our  intellectual 
faculties.  Owing  to  the  intense  bustle  and  activity  of 
the  present  age,  we  know  that  it  is  especially  difficult  to 
obtain  for  this  question  of  interdependence  between  our 
practical  and  ideal  life  the  consideration  which  it  merits. 
In  this  busy,  money-making  metropolis,  more,  perhaps, 


140 

than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world,  any  attempt  to 
analyze  or  enter  into  a  subject  so  delicate  in  its  nature  is 
particularly  beset  with  difficulties. 

Unfortunately  for  us,  we  live  in  too  great  a  hurry;  we 
think  in  too  great  a  hurry  ;  and,  therefore,  have  no  time 
for  these  finer  shadings  of  thought  so  indispensable  to 
our  culture  and  real  progress.  That  this  is  the  case, 
however,  by  no  means  denies  the  validity  of  the  claim ; 
it  merely  denotes  a  deficiency  in  our  mode  of  life,  which 
cannot  be  too  soon  remedied.  The  circumstances  pro- 
ducing this  state  of  unnatural  excitement,  and  threaten- 
ing us  with  a  condition  of  turpitude,  are,  of  course,  to 
be  regretted ;  but  their  existence  does  not,  and  cannot, 
set  aside  the  fact  that  there  can  be  no  consistent  estimate 
of  progress  which  does  not  recognize  those  subtle  but 
extremely  potent  influences  derived  from  the  ideal  side 
of  our  civilization.  Not  that  the  conditions  of  human 
existence  render  the  existence  of  such  influences  merely 
probable,  but  that  they  do  more :  they  go  beyond  this, 
and  render  them  absolutely  imperative  and  indispensable. 

It  is  a  law  of  nature,  and  not  a  chimerical  idea  evolved 
from  the  culturist's  imagination.  It  is  a  principle  of 
human  growth  and  development,  and  not  a  mere  abstrac- 
tion of  philosophy. 

It  is  demonstrated  by  that  fact  of  observation  through 
which  we  recognize  that  every  man,  in  some  sense, 
resembles  the  objective  point  toward  which  his  desires 
tend ;  it  marks  the  difference  between  the  cultivated  and 
the  uncultivated  man  ;  it  indicates  the  difference  between 
those  persons  described  by  Professor  Blackie,  in  his 
admirable  essay  on  Self-culture,  as  "human  lobsters,"  and 
those  noble  specimens  of  humanity,  who,  besides  s'eizing 
upon  the  beautiful  and  good  as  their  proper  aliment,  are, 


141 

also,  always  intent  on  performing  some  useful  work, 
something  that  may  help  the  cause  of  progress,  and  so 
lift  humanity  nearer  to  the  realization  of  happiness, 
accompanied  by  a  sense  of  its  grand  and  noble  destiny. 
It  is  especially  illustrated  in  the  elevating  and  purifying 
influences  of  Christianity  ;  in  connection  with  which,  as 
another  has  truly  said :  "  The  great  characteristic  of 
Christianity,  and  the  great  moral  proof  of  its  divinity,  is 
that  it  has  been  the  main  source  of  the  moral  develop- 
ment of  Europe,  and  that  it  has  discharged  this  office  not 
so  much  by  the  inculcation  of  a  system  of  ethics,  how- 
ever pure,  as  by  the  assimilating  and  attractive  influence 
of  a  perfect  ideal.  The  moral  progress  of  mankind  can 
never  cease  to  be  distinctively  and  intensely  Christian  as 
long  as  it  consists  of  a  gradual  approximation  to  the 
character  of  the  Christian  founder.  There  is,  indeed, 
nothing  more  wonderful  in  the  history  of  the  human 
race  than  the  way  in  which  that  ideal  has  traversed  the 
lapse  of  ages,  acquiring  new  strength  and  beauty  with 
each  advance  of  civilization,  and  infusing  its  beneficent 
influence  into  every  sphere  of  thought  and  action."  J  A 
beautiful  tribute  to  Christianity  certainly ;  but  no  more 
beautiful  than  true. 

As  such,  may  we,  therefore,  appreciate  it ;  and  in  our 
application  of  the  principle  to  our  growth  as  a  nation, 
and  our  responsibilities  as  individuals,  endeavor  as  far 
as  possible  to  estimate  the  true  character  of  our  ideal 
life,  and  the  probable  consequences  resulting  therefrom 
to  ourselves  and  posterity.  As  has  1jeen  shown  at  an 
earlier  stage  in  this  chapter,  one  of  the  most  striking 
characteristics  of  modern  thought  consists  in  its  repudia- 


!i  "  History  of  Rationalism  in  Europe,""  by  W.  E.  H.  LECKY,  M.  A. 


142 

tion  of  that  theory  which  regards  man  as  a  worm,  rather 
than  a  creature  of  grand  and  glorious  possibilities  ;  but 
this  is  not  all ;  nor  is  it  the  most  important  consequence 
demanded  by  our  transitional  process  of  thought.  As 
a  means  of  changing  our  general  estimate  of  God, 
Man  and  Nature,  it  is  undeniably  a  move  in  the  right 
direction ;  but  the  danger  is  that  we  stop  here ;  forgetting 
that  this  change  of  sentiment  is,  after  all,  a  germinal 
principle  of  thought,  and  not  a  positive  force  of  action. 

That  we  have  gained  much  by  the  change  which  sub- 
stitutes the  progression  theory  for  the  degradation  theory 
no  candid  mind  will  deny,  but  that  the  change  is  imper- 
fect, except  so  far  as  it  becomes  a  living  reality,  elevating 
our  consciousness,  and  enlarging  our  view  of  human  char- 
acter, is  equally  apparent. 

As  long  as  the  change  represents  merely  an  intel- 
lectual conception,  its  function  is  rather  regulative  than 
formative.  In  its  combination  with  sentiment,  however,  it 
becomes  an  immensely  potent  influence,  encouraging, 
sustaining,  and  impelling  us  ever  onward  in  the  contempla- 
tion of  the  beautiful  and  true ;  demanding,  in  fact,  as  the 
proper  nourishment  of  our  enlarging  faculties,  that 
exquisite  adaptation  of  thought  and  feeling  without  which 
there  can  be  no  distinctly  human  development,  no  possi- 
bility of  our  rising  to  that  grandeur  and  beauty  of  char- 
acter which  depends  upon  the  united  and  harmonious 
action  of  an  enlightened  reason  and  a  purified  sentiment. 

In  dealing  with  this  question  of  our  ideal  life,  and  the 
influence  it  exerts  on  the  formation  of  individual  and 
national  character,  it  may  be  true,  as  Taine  expresses  it: 
"  In  regard  to  the  Ideal,  it  is  the  heart  which  speaks ;  we 
then  think  of  the  vague  and  beautiful  dream  by  which  is 
expressed  the  deepest  sentiment ;  we  scarcety  breathe  it  in 


I4;3> 

the  lowest  voice,  with  a  kind  of  subdued  enthusiasm ; 
when  we  speak  of  it  otherwise,  it  is  in  verse,  in  a  can- 
ticle ;  we  dwell  on  it  reverently,  with  clasped  hands,  as 
if  it  concerned  happiness,  heaven,  or  love."  Such  is,  un- 
doubtedly, one  aspect  of  the  subject ;  and  as  such,  it 
brings  us  into  a  condition  in  which  we  suspend,  for  the 
moment,  the  hard,  dry  facts  of  every-day  life — a  moment- 
ary insight  into  the  finer  susceptibilities  of  our  nature. 

"  The  gleam, 

The  light  that  never  was,  on  sea  or  land, 
The  consecration,  and  the  poet's  dream." 

In  addition  to  this,  however,  there  is  a  philosophical  side 
to  be  considered,  a  process  of  thought  in  which  although 
the  beauty  of  the  poetical  conception  is  not  lost,  it  is  for 
the  moment  superseded  by  that  intellectual  analysis 
which  enables  us  to  see  as  well  as  feel. 

'"The  ideals  we  frame  of  life  and  happiness  must  in- 
volve a  more  or  less  positively  ethical  character.  We 
cannot  imagine  what  we  are  to  be,  and  to  become,  in  fortune 
and  success,  without  proposing,  more  or  less  distinctly, 
what  we  ought  to  be  in  character,  and  to  perform  in  action. 
Hence,  in  a  certain  sense,  what  a  man  aspires  to  become, 
has  already  ethically  decided  what  he  is.  His  aims  and 
standard  are  the  reflex  of  his  wishes  and  his  wills,  as  well 
as  the  assurance  of  what  he  can  achieve  in  the  future."* 

It  is  so  in  the  formation  of  individual  character :  it 
must,  by  the  same  rule,  be -so  in  the  formation  of  national 
character.  In  carrying  out  this  idea,  it  matters  not 
whether  we  regard  Religion  as  subsidiary  to  Culture,  or 
Culture  as  subsidiary  to  Eeligion.  In  both  instances,  the 


*  "Elements  of  Intellectual  Science,"  by  NOAH  PORTER,  D.D.,  L.L.D.,  Presi- 
dent of  Yale  College. 


144 

result  is  the  same.  In  either  case,  we  start  with  the  con- 
viction that  there  are  certain  conditions  inhering  in  our 
nature  which  "  the  flesh-pots  of  Egypt "  can  never  sat- 
isfy. In  either  case,  the  same  need  of  human  nature 
is  assumed,  viz.,  the  indispensability  of  an  ennobling  ideal 
which  shall  elevate  and  enlarge  our  views  of  life,  and 
which,  in  unveiling  more  and  more  the  grandeur  and 
perfection  of  moral  beauty,  will  bring  us  nearer  to  the 
attainment  of  that  noble  humanity  which  we  justly 
regard  as  constituting  the  crown  and  glory  of  the 
universe. 

Glancing  over  the  range  of  modern  civilization,  and 
enumerating  the  evidences  of  material  prosperity  and 
progress  by  which  we  are  surrounded,  is  well ;  it  is  per- 
fectly natural  and  proper  that  we  should  pride  ourselves 
on  our  attainments  in  this  direction.  Looking  around 
us,  and  observing  the  numerous  instances  of  intellectual 
advancement  which  present  themselves  for  our  encourage- 
ment, is  also  well.  The  diffusion  of  knowledge,  and  the 
restless  spirit  of  inquiry  which  follows  necessarily  as  its 
consequence,  are  undeniable  evidences  that  we  are 
moving  in  the  right  direction.  It  is  a  glorious  promise, 
and  well  may  encourage  .us  to  hope  for  the  future.  In  its 
last  analysis,  the  power  of  the  intellect  is  the  mightiest 
power  in  the  universe  ;  it  is  the  angel  of  light,  removing 
the  fetters  of  ignorance  and  superstition,  and  bidding 
the  human  mind  to  stand  erect  in  its  freedom.  All  this 
it  does ;  but  without  an  ennobling  moral  motive-power 
as  its  accompaniment  it  is  incomplete.  Man  is  neither 
all  reason,  nor  all  sentiment;  but  a  combination  made 
up  of  both.  It  is  only  in  this  sense,  therefore,  that  «we 
can  consistently  regard  him.  Exaggerate  the  one  at  the 
expense  of  the  other,  and  the  consequence  is  an  abnor- 


145 

mal  development.  Combine  them,  and  allow  them  to 
interpenetrate  each  other,  and  we  produce  a  normal  devel- 
opment, as  well  as  a  distinctly  human  being.  In  the 
moral  world,  as  in  the  intellectual,  there  is  a  beauty 
which  we  cannot  afford  to  dispense  with.  No  matter 
whether  we  have  attained  "to  our  present  position  through 
a  process  of  evolution,  or  whether  the  more  prevalent 
theory  be  correct.  Tested  in  the  light  of  consciousness  and 
experience,  it  is  obvious  that  we  are  possessed  of  certain 
capabilities  which  were  never,  intended  to  rust  in  us 
unused.  Indeed,  the  grandest  and  profoundest  interpret- 
ation we  can  give  to  the  doctrine  of  Evolution  is  when 
we  apply  its  principles  to  the  endless  development  and 
progress  of  spiritual  ideas,  as  truly  as  to  the  consequences, 
of  its  action  in  the  world  of  matter. 

In  one  sense,  the  moral  side  of  our  nature  must  be 
governed  by  the  intellectual ;  but  this  by  no  means  denies 
the  necessity  of  their  united  action.  The  aim  of  true 
progress  is  the  full  and  harmonious  development  of  all 
our  faculties ;  the  bringing  our  entire  nature,  physical, 
moral,  and  intellectual,  into  the  highest  state  of  perfection, 
and  the  most  exquisite  harmony — that  sweet  accord  so 
well  portrayed  by  Tennyson  : 

"Let  knowledge  grow  from 'more  to  more, 
But  more  of  reverence  in  us  dwell ; 
That  mind  and  soul,  according  well, 
May  make  one  music  as  before. 

But  vaster " 

Such,  it  seems  to  us,  are  the  true  conditions  of  progress. 
To  estimate  the  subject  merely  by  glittering  superficiali- 
ties is  a  fallacy.  Before  this  continent  was  discovered, 
other  nations  made  their  estimate  on  these  principles,  and 


146 

they  paid  the  penalty  of  their  folly.  They  have  gone 
down  to  their  graves  teaching  us  the  important  lesson 
that  even  in  the  proudest,  and,  to  all  appearances,  even  in 
the  most  flourishing  civilizations,  there  may  exist  the 
causes  of  dissolution  and  decay.  Again  and  again,  the 
world  has  seemed  to  realize  the  idea  of  happiness ;  but 
as  frequently  has  it  eluded  men's  grasp,  and  passed 
away,  remaining  still  an  ideal  rather  than  a  real  state. 
For  instance,  the  Symposium  of  Plato  is  as  a  beauti- 
ful dream,  in  which  Love  and  Philosophy  join  hands, 
and,  in  their  union,  seek  for  that  sublimation  of  feel- 
ing which  ends  in  the  contemplation  of  the  beautiful 
and  good.  So,  also,  the  most  pathetic  and  beautiful 
strains  of  Virgil  are  directed  toward  the  attainment 
of  that  tranquility  which  gives  such  an  imperishable 
charm  to  his  poetry.  So,  also,  Pindar,  as  he  intro- 
duces us  into  the  Fortunate  Islands,  paints  with  wonder 
ful  vividness  and  exquisite  beauty,  the  happiness  of 
the  blessed,  f  So,  indeed,  it  has  been  in  every  instance 
in  which  the  mind  has  risen  above  the  petty  cares  and 
ills  of  life.  From  the  pressure  of  circumstance,  our  daily 
routine  may  be  more  or  less  a  groveling  in  the 
dust.  Yet  there  are  seasons  when  we  may  rise  to  the 


'  All,  whose  steadfast  virtue  thrice 
Each  side  the  grave  unchanged  hath  stood, 
Still  unseduced,  unstain'd  with  vice, 
They  by  Jove's  mysterious  road 
Pass  to  Saturn's  realm  of  rest, 
Happy  isle  that  holds  the  blest ; 
Where  sea-born  breezes  gently  blow 
O'er  blooms  of  gold  that  round  them  glow, 
Which  Nature's  boon  from  stream  or  strand, 
Or  goodly  tree,  profusely  pours  ; 
Whence  pluck  they  many  a  fragrant  band, 
And  braid  their  locks  with  never-fading  flowers," 

"  Olympic  Ode,"  2,  Antistrophe  k. 


147 

sublime  heights  of  contemplation,  and,  in  our  moments 
of  tranquility,  venture  to  look  forward  to  a  better  and 
happier  condition  for  humanity.  To  the  poet,  it  comes 
with  the  rapid  rush  of  intuition  or  inspiration.  To  the 
philosopher,  it  comes  more  slowly,  but  all  the  more 
powerfully,  through  the  process  of  induction.  To  the 
commoner  class  of  minds,  it  comes,  perhaps,  more  nearly 
in  the  form  of  a  vague  dream,  rather  than  as  a  ra- 
tional expectation.  Yet,  different  as  the  forms  of  mani- 
festation may  be,  the  idea  has  always  existed,  and  in  all 
probability  will  always  exist.  In  fact,  it  is  a  condition 
of  human  consciousness,  and  we  cannot  escape  from  it. 
No  matter  if,  in  exceptional  instances,  as  in  the  case  of 
Strauss,  J  the  most  severe  thinking  leads  to  that  condition 
of  helplessness  which  he  so  graphically  depicts ;  it  is 
evident  that  there  must  come  a  reaction,  and  the  mind, 
instead  of  beholding  the  universe  as  a  piece  of  mere 
mechanical  Deism,  will  ultimately  realize  it  as  the 
expression  of  an  Immanent  and  Living  God.  The 
moment  we  attempt  to  expand  the  idea  of  Law  into  that 
of  Universal  Necessity,  and,  in  so  doing,  endeavor  to 
suppress  our  higher  and  finer  emotions,  even  though  they 
cry  out  in  agony,  just  so  surely  do  we  commit  a  scientific 
as  well  as  a  philosophical  blunder. 

The   more  carefully  we  examine  ourselves  as  human 
beings  possessed  of  a  wonderful  complexity  of  organs, 


$  In  the  enormous  machine  of  the  universe,  amid  the  incessant  whirl  and  hiss 
of  its  jagged  iron  wheels,  amid  the  deafening  crash  of  its  ponderous  stamps 
and  hammers,  in  the  midst  of  this  whole  terrific  commotion,  man,  a  helpless 
and  defenseless  creature,  finds  himself  placed,  not  secure  for  a  moment  that  on 
an  imprudent  motion  a  wheel  may  not  seize  and  rend  him,  or  a  hammer 
crush  him  to  powder.  This  sense  of  abandonment  is  at  first  something  awful. 
But,  then,  what  avails  it  to  have  recourse  to  an  illusion  !— "  The  Old  Faith 
and  the  New." 


148 

and  allied  by  our  faculties  to  a  supersensual  existence, 
the  more  impossible  it  becomes  for  us  to  regard  human 
nature  as  a  mere  automaton.  It  is  only  when  we 
recognize  the  existence  of  a  moral  motive-power  in  man 
that  we  appreciate  the  true  measure  of  human  greatness. 
It  is  only  when  we  recognize  God  in  Nature  that  we 
appreciate  the  glory  and  beauty  of  the  universe.  Shall 
we  witness  the  development  of  the  oak  from  the  acorn, 
and  not  believe  that  there  may  be  a  similar  process  taking 
place  in  the  world  of  human  nature;  a  transformation, 
which,  however  slow  it  may  appear,  will  ultimately 
establish  virtue  on  everlasting  foundations,  and  wipe 
away  all  tears.  Like  the  geologic  changes  that  have 
taken  place  on  the  earth,  it  may  require  ages  for  its 
accomplishment ;  but  that  it  will  ultimately  be  realized 
no  sane  man  can  doubt.  By  all  means,  therefore,  let  us 
have  faith  in  progress  ;  it  will  aid  us  in  mastering  those 
difficult  problems  by  which  our  individual,  social  and 
political  life  are  beset  Besides,  it  is  infinitely  better  to 
anticipate  the  Golden  Age  as  a  thing  of  the  future  than  to 
mourn  its  loss  as  a  thing  of  the  past.  The  one  indicates 
a  season  of  manhood  characterized  by  a  spirit  of  bold 
inquiry  and  calm  induction.  The  other  denotes  that 
period  of  old  age  and  decay  when  the  main  business 
consists  in  re-affirming  and  verifying  the  conclusions  of 
earlier  years,  and  when  there  is  an  almost  ungovernable 
disposition  to  regard  everything  new  as  false  and  danger- 
ous. That  this  later  condition  is  one  diametrically 
opposed  to  the  true  order  of  development  it  needs  but 
very  little  penetration  to  discover.  That  the  former  is 
more  strictly  in  accordance  with  all  known  principles  of 
growth  is  equally  obvious. 

And  thus  it  is  that  in  the"  existence  of  the  progression 
theory  there  is  so  much  which  encourages  and  supports 


149 


us  under  the  most  perplexing  of  our  trials.  The  color- 
ing which  theology  has  given  to  the  current  ideas  in  this 
respect  can  never  satisfy  the  demands  of  an  earnest  and 
rational  desire. 

Instead  of  diminishing,  it  has  rather  increased,  the 
gulf  which  has  always  more  or  less  existed  between 
Christianity  and  Philosophy.  On  the  other  hand,  the  aim 
of  modern  thought  is  obviously  to  produce  a  glorious 
synthesis  between  the  two.  And  this  brings  us,  in  the 
next  place,  to  an  examination  of  that  analogy  between 
Neo-Platonism  and  Modem  Thought  which,  it  has  been 
urged,  constitutes  itsprevailing  characteristic  and  inferen- 
tially,  its  main  defect. 

Certainly  there  are  points  of  extraordinary  resemblance 
between  the  two  ages,  but  there  are  also  points  of  very  great 
difference.  For  instance,  although  we  must  admit,  "  The 
decline  of  ancient  faith  without  mature  successor  to  take  the 
vacant  throne ;  the  attempt  of  metaphysics  to  fit  the  soul 
with  a  religion  ;  the  pretensions  of  intuition  and  ecstasy ; 
the  sadden  birth,  from  the  very  eggs,  of  a  high-flown 
spiritualism,  of  rnystagogu.es  and  mesmerists,  as  larvse 
are  born  of  butterflies ;  the  growth  of  world-cities  and 
world-science,  with  their  public  libraries  and  institutes, 
their  botanic  and  zoologic  gardens,  their  cheap  baths  and 
open  parks ;  the  joint  diffusion  of  taste  and  demoraliza- 
tion, of  asceticism  and  intemperance  ;  the  increase  of  a 
proletary  class  amid  the  growing  humanity  of  society  and 
the  laws  ;  the  frequency  of  frightful  epidemics  ;  the  com- 
bination of  gigantic  enterprises  and  immense  commerce, 
with  decay  at  the  heart  of  private  life — afford,  undoubtedly, 
a  curious  group  of  symptoms  common  to  the  Europe  of 
that  day  and  of  this " — although  all  this  must  be 
admitted,  there  is  yet  an  important  difference  which  we 


150 

are  equally  bound  to  consider.  To  us  it  seems  that  the 
divergence  between  the  two  ages  consists  in  this,  viz. : 
whereas  the  Alexandrian  school  was  founded  on  an 
unnatural  confluence  of  Indian,  Persian,  Greek,  and 
Egyptian  thought,  the  spirit  of  the  present  age,  although 
in  many  respects  nearly  as  cosmopolitan,  is  nevertheless 
composed  of  elements  possessing  a  much  greater  chemical 
affinity,  and,  therefore,  much  more  likely  to  produce  a 
satisfactory  result.  In  the  present  age,  as  in  the  days  of 
Neo-Platonism,  there  is  a  decided  effort  to  erect  a 
platform  on  which  Religion  and  Philosophy  may  meet ; 
but  the  conditions  in  favor  of  the  present  age  are  simply 
immense. 

In  its  last  analysis,  Neo-Platonism  can  only  be  defined 
as  a  condition  consequent  on  the  negation  of  prior  faiths, 
accompanied  by  the  desire  to  harmonize,  if  not  to  blend, 
the  philosophy  of  Plato  with  Christianity.  As  a  period 
marking  the  progress  of  the  human  mind  in  its  everlast- 
ing search  after  the  Infinite,  it  certainly  constitutes  a 
highly  important  chapter  in  history.  As  Mr.  Martineau 
expresses  it :  "  It  bears  the  mingled  colors  of  an  old 
world  and  a  new ;  and  is  the  twilight  dream  of  thought 
between  the  sunny  hours  of  Pagan  life  and  the  night- 
watches  of  Christian  meditation."  Beyond  this,  however, 
the  application  fails,  and  the  analogy  has  no  meaning 
for  the  present  age.  On  a  careful  survey,  and  after  we 
have  tested  the  subject  in  its  various  phases,  the  disposi- 
tion of  modern  thought  will  be  found  far  more  friendly 
to  the  development  of  whatever  is  best  and  purest  in 
Christianity  than  may  at  first  sight  appear.  Naturally 
enough,  the  age  rebels  against  many  absurdities  and 
monstrosities  that  have  been  propagated  under  the 
sanction  of  theology ;  but  independently  of  this,  and  the 


161 

many  polemical  disputes  we  may  yet  witness,  there  must 
always  exist  in  the  breast  of  every  sensible  man  a  pro- 
found respect  for  those  principles  of  gentleness  and 
purity  which  make  up  the  essentiality  of  the  Christian 
religion.  In  fact,  no  matter  how  vast  may  be  the  meas- 
ure of  our  attainments,  or  how  profound  the  method  of  our 
reasoning,  we  will  always  exhibit  a  dwarfed  and  imper- 
fect humanity  in  the  absence  of  those  conditions  of 
ethical  and  spiritual  culture  peculiar  to  the  teaching  of 
Christianity. 

The  Philosophy  of  Progress  is  only  perfect  in  so  far  as 
it  embraces  and  provides  for  our  spiritual  susceptibilities  as 
truly  as  the  demands  of  our  intellectual  nature.  Thus  equip" 
ped,  we  may  reasonably  expect  that  we  shall  learn  more 
fully  how  to  live,  and,  in  learning  this,  learn  also  how  to 
die;  the  realization  indeed  of  that  sweet  tranquility 
when  we  shall  find  ourselves  more  fully  in  harmony  with 
God  and  Nature,  and  when,  as  we  approach  the  last  and 
most  important  scene  in  our  existence,  we  can  properly 
appreciate  the  true  meaning  of  life. 

"Or   we   can  sit 

In  serious  calm  beneath  deciduous  trees, 
And  count  the  leaves  scarce  heavier  than  the  air, 
Which  leave  the  branch  and  tremble  to  the  ground  ; 
Or  out  at  midnight,  in  a  gliding  boat, 
Enjoy  the  waning  moon,  and  moralize, 
And  say  that  Death  is  but  a  mediator 
Between  the  lower  and  the  loftier  life." 

Death  has  always  been  the  great  terror  of  the  human 
race.  It  is  not,  however,  impossible,  as  we  grow  wiser  and 
better,  and  enter  more  understandingly  into  those  processes 
of  change  through  which  nature  perpetuates  the  principles 
of  life,  that  we  will  learn  to  regard  it  in  a  new  light, 


152 

realizing  it  as  an  introduction  into  a  higher-  state  of 
existence,  instead  of  a  cold  and  repulsive  descent  into  the 
awful  stillness  of  the  grave.  It  is  no  figure  of  hyperbole 
to  assert  that  a  comprehensive  theory  of  progress  neces- 
sarily embraces  the  demands  of  our  spiritual  nature. 
The  glorious  theme  of  our  immortality  is  one  to  which 
we  cannot  consistently  assign  an  inferior  position.  Up 
to  a  certain  point,  it  is,  perhaps,  possible,  to  construct  a 
philosophy  of  .progress  without  it;  but,  after  all,  we 
cannot  deny  that,  in  its  absence  the  world  loses  half  its 
beauty,  and  human  life  almost  all  its  grandeur  and 
significance.  The  absurd  idea  which  associates  our  future 
existence  with  the  resurrection  of  the  material  body  must 
of  necessity  be  relegated  to  its  proper  position  as  a  relic 
of  an  earlier  and  more  ignorant  age;  but  the  fact  of  our 
immortality  will  still  remain.  Science  and  enlightenment 
will  demonstrate  the  impossibility  of  our  re-assuming 
bodies  which,  after  our  death,  become,  through  the 
ordinary  processes  of  nature,  component  parts  of  other 
living  organisms  to  whom  they  would  be  quite  as  valuable 
and  indispensable  in  the  event  of  a  general  resurrection  as 
to  ourselves.  This,  however,  represents  merely  that  unim- 
portant branch  of  the  subject  in  which  theology  has 
made  itself  ridiculous,  Considered  in  another  sense, 
and  that  the  important  one  embraced  in  the  doctrine  of 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  independently  of  any  attempt 
to  systematize  the  subject,  we  are  bound  to  recognize  the 
necessity  for  regarding  the  indestructibility  of  our  nature 
as  an  indispensable  feature  in  any  theory  which  recog- 
nizes the  possibility  of  man's  development  in  accordance 
with  the  demands  of  his  nature,  and  in  keeping  with  that 
great  and  glorious  design  which  has  placed  him  in  his 
present  position;  a  little  world  within  himself,  aecoin- 


153 

panied  by  an  unceasing  demand  for  something  wiser  and 
better  than  that  which  is. 

Such  is  man  in  his  better  moods,  when  he  retires 
most  fully  within  himself  for  contemplation.  It  is  a 
feeling  which  ought  to  lead  us  earnestly  and  sincerely 
to  impress  the  solemn  lesson  that  man  is  only  worthy  of 
his  race  in  so  far  as  he  realizes  the  meaning  of  his 
existence  and  the  measure  of  his  responsibilities.  In 
fact,  the  more  carefully  and  deeply  we  think  the  subject 
over,  the  more 'inclined  will  we  be  to  cast  ourselves  on 
our  bended  knees,  lost  in  wonder  and  admiration  before 
that  marvelous  design  which  has  made  man  as  great  as 
he  is,  and  which  yet  promises  to  make  him  greater. 

We  have  already  emphasized  the  fact  that  the 
gradual  progress  of  humanity  constitutes  the  central 
principle  in  our  creed.  We  would  again  say,  in  conclu- 
sion, that  the  more  carefully  we  study  man  in  connection 
with  his  conditions,  past  and  present,  the  more  fully  are 
we  convinced 'that  the  future  will  verify  our  predictions. 
It  may  be  a  long  time  in  coming,  but,  just  as  surely  as 
the  sun  rises,  experience  will  demonstrate  what  philos- 
ophy anticipates,  viz.,  that  the  human  race,  notwith- 
standing its  many  instances  of  individual  retrogression, 
is  still  moving,  as  to  its  totality,  toward  the-attainment  of 
a  higher  and  better  life.  Deny  to  us  this  possibility, 
and  we  destroy  the  meaning  of  those  noble  aspirations 
which  characterize  human  nature  under  its  best  condi- 
tions, and  which,  if  meant  to  be  thwarted  instead  of 
realized,  would  lead  xis  to  believe  in  an  uncertain  and 
capricious  Deity,  rather  than  that  infinitely  perfect 
Being  removed  from  all  possibilities  of  contradiction 
and  change,  which  modern  thought  so  strongly  insists 
upon  as  an  indispensable  condition  in  all  attempts  to 


154 

solve  the  enigma  of  life.  As  we  look  back  toward  the 
causes  which  have  produced  what  we  may  term  the 
orthodox  idea  of  progress,  we  cannot  consistently 
wonder  at  its  character.  Intensely  dissatisfied  with  the 
moral  evil  by  which  they  were  surrounded,  it  was  but 
natural  that  the  great  phophets  and  teachers  of  Judea 
should  dwell  most  forcibly  on  the  dark  side  of  human 
character.  This  may  be  fitly  called  that  age  of  the 
world  when  the  terrible  problems  of  suffering  and  guilt 
come  most  boldly  to  the  surface.  According  to  the 
same  rule,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  Mediaeval 
thinkers  regarded  the  world  as  being  so  extremely 
rotten  that  its  speedy  destruction  was  inevitable,  in  the 
course  of  Divine  vengeance. 

To  some  extent,  it  was  a  noble  ardor,  a  becoming 
protest  against  unrighteousness,  but  experience  has 
shown  how  sadly  it  was  mistaken.  The  condition  of 
thought  grew  naturally  enough  from  the  circumstances 
of  the  age ;  it  was  possibly  the  best  estimate  that  could 
be  expected  in  view  of  all  the  facts,  but  the  progress 
which  the  world  has  since  made  has  abundantly  demon- 
strated the  futility  of  many  of  their  most  important 
theories. 

And  here,  it  seems  to  us,  we  may  consistently  rest 
our  argument  for  a  law  of  endless  progress  for  the 
human  race.  Keeping  in  mind  the  different  transitions 
of  thought  through  which  we  have  attained  to  our 
present  intellectual  status,  and  remembering,  also,  that, 
in  view  of  our  position  in  the  long  line  of  human 
history,  we  are  better  able  than  our  ancestors  to  dis- 
cover a  symmetry  and  beauty  in  what  to  them  appeared 
a  chaos,  it  does  not  seem  Utopian  to  reason  from  what 
has  been  to  what  may  be,  viz.,  that  as  humanity  must 


155 

necessarily  have  made  some  progress  before  it  could 
look  back  on  a  less  perfect  past,  so  it.  may,  and 
probably  will,  continue  to  advance,  each  age  bringing 
us  higher  and  higher — in  a  never-ending  career  of 
wisdom  and  happiness.  Of  course,  we  are  well  aware 
that  we  are  equally  bound,  in  this  connection,  to 
remember  that,  as  .the  course  has  been  rugged  and 
tortuous  hitherto,  it  will  probably  so  continue.  It  is 
of  no  use  to  endeavor  to  overlook  this  phase  of  the 
subject;  it  exists  as  one  of  the  most  evident  facts  of 
history  and  experience,  and  as  such  we  are  compelled  to 
recognize  it.  On  the  other  hand,  however,  we  must 
carefully  remember  that  as  our  idea  of  progress  consists 
in  a  process  of  development,  involving  the  gradual 
ascendancy  of  the  nobler  and  better  parts  of  our  nature, 
it  will  be  easily  seen  that  there  is,  at  least,  a  certain 
amount  of  trial  and  tortuousness  necessary.  The  greatest 
growths  are  invariably  the  most  gradual. 


156 


CONCLUDING   REMARKS. 


HAVING  endeavored,  in  the  preceding  chapters,  to 
gain  a  partial  insight  into  some  of  the  leading  character- 
istics of  the  age,  we  have  now  reached  that  stage  in 
the  treatment  of  our  subject  when  we  approach  more 
nearly  the  verdict  of  an  intelligent  community.  That 
we  have  fully  accomplished  our  purpose  we  do  not 
pretend  to  anticipate.  That  we  have,  however,  partially 
done  so,  we  venture  modestly  to  hope.  In  these  flays, 
standing  as  we  do  at  the  close  of  a  centu^  which  we 
may  fairly  consider  without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of 
the  world,  and  surrounded  as  we  are  by  conditions 
which  daily  render  civilization  more  complex,  it  would 
be  the  merest  absurdity  for  any  one  to  think  that  he 
could  so  far  master  the  situation  as  to  grasp  the  ivhole 
truth.  In  has  never  been  in  the  power  of  man  to  attain 
such  a  magnificent  result ;  and  it  is  fair  to  suppose  it 
never  will  be.  No  matter  how  severe  may  be  the 
intellectual  discipline,  or  how  earnestly  and  thoughtfully 
we  may  dwell  upon  the  mysteries  of  man  and  nature,  it 
seems  an  inevitable  law  that  the  solution  of  one  problem 
should  always  suggest  the  existence  of  another  yet 
unexplained  ;  an  ever-receding  horizon,  in  fact,  growing 
always  wider  and  more  attractive  as  we  approach  what 


157 

seems,  to  our  finite  view,  the  limit  of  truth.  The 
physical  world,  as  we  all  know,  is  extremely  grand  and 
beautiful ;  but  in  the  intellectual  universe  there  is  a  far 
greater  immensity  and  a  higher  order  of  beauty,  as  well 
as  a  deeper  meaning  and  greater  complexity  in  its 
phenomena.  Standing,  therefore,  in  the  presence  of  a 
subject  so  vast  and  imposing  as  the  intellectual  aspect 
of  the  present  age,  it  is  hardly  possible  for  even  the 
most  successful  investigator  to  discover  more  than  a  few 
definite  tendencies  from  which  he  may  reasonably 
conjecture  the  probable  character  of  the  general  result. 

That  our  interpretation  of  modern  thought  rests 
mainly  on  the  theory  of  a  gradual  education  of  the 
human  race,  we  have  already  demonstrated. 

That  we  may  the  more  fully  emphasize  this,,  we 
would  again  urge  the  statement,  that  our  present  intellec- 
tual activity  represents  a  healthy  state,  and  not  an  unheal- 
thy condition,  in  which  reason,  like  a  sick  man's  appetite, 
has  becomed  depraved.  On  the  contrary,  as  before  stated, 
the  more  clearly  we  realize  the  true  impetus  of  scientific 
thought,  and  the  more  nearly  we  approach  a  strictly 
philosophical  estimate  of  its  tendencies,  the  more  forcibly 
will  we  recognize  the  fact  that  its  character  is  best 
expressed  in  Carlyle's  abhorrence  of  falsehood  and  vener- 
ation of  truth :  "  A  lie  should  be  trampled  on  and 
extinguished  wherever  found.  - 1  am  for  fumigating  the 
atmosphere  when  I  suspect  that  falsehood,  like  pesti- 
lence, breathes  around  me." 

That  there  does  exist  the  possibility  of  falsehood  or 
error  in  the  thoughts  and  ideas  which  have  come  down 
to  us,  we  suppose  no  one  will  denv-  That  the  possibility 
once  granted,  there  should  also  exist  a  probability  that 
modern  thought  may  do  some  good,  we  think  is  equally 
obvious. 


158 

Indeed,  the  one  may  be  said  to  follow  the  other  as  a 
legitimate  sequence  or  necessary  corollary  ;  and,  therefore, 
answers  effectually  all  those  who  see  in  every  new  idea 
a  likeness  of  the  devil.  The  fact  is,  this  sable  personage 
is  far  more  frequently  served  under  the  guise  of  bigotry  * 
than  under  an  enlightened  condition  of  doubt  and  pro- 
gressive thought,  f  It  is  true  that  the  phenomenon  of 
darkness  in  the  physical  world,  which  rendered  possible 
the  conception  of  a  devil,  has  also  its  counterpart  in  the 
psychical  or  supra-sensible  world  in  which  we  are  called 
upon  to  fulfill  the  conditions  of  our  intellectual  existence. 
But  what  of  this,  since  reason  and  experience  both 
indicate  that,  although  darkness  has  always  been 
associated  with  everything  human,  and  probably  in  some 
sense  will  always  continue  to  be  so,  it  nevertheless  is 
susceptible  of  various  degrees  of  modification  arising 
from  the  measure  of  our  intelligence.  For  example,  if 
we  compare  ourselves  with  the  earliest  inhabitants  of  our 
globe,  what  is  the  result  of  the  comparison?  Simply 
this :  man  in  his  first  condition  shared  the  possession  of 


*  "  He  was  a  man 

Who  stole  the  livery  of  the  court  of  heaven 
To  serve  the  devil  in." 

POLLOK'S  "  Course  of  Time." 

t  As  an  apt  illustration  of  how  far  an  unbridled  superstition  will  sometimes  go 
even  under  civilized  conditions,  the  following  incident,  selected  from  Hallam's 
''Middle  Ages,"  will  convey  a  salutary  lesson.  The  words  of  this  eminent  writer  are: 
"  In  the  tenth  century  an  opinion  prevailed  everywhere  that  the  end  of  the  world  was 
approaching.  Many  charters  began  with  these  words,  'As  the  world  is  now  draw- 
ing to  a  close:'  An  army  marching  under  the  Emperor  Otho  I.  was  so  terrified 
by  an  eclipse  of  the  sun,  which  it  conceived  to  announce  this  consummation,  as  to 
disperse  hastily  on  all  sides.  As  this  notion  was  evidently  founded  on  some 
confused  theory  of  the  millennium,  it  naturally  died  away  when  the  seasons  pro- 
ceeded in  the  eleventh  century  with  their  usual  regularity."  Also  see  the  many 
other  forms  of  ignorance  and  superstition  which,  in  this  ape,  like  FO  many  dis. 
mal  shadows  left  their  impress  on  everything  pertaining  to  man  »;nd  the  world. 


159 

the  earth  with  the  mammoth,  the  cave-bear,  and  thewooly- 
haired  rhinoceros:  man  in  his  present  condition  has 
gained  an  almost  absolute  supremacy  over  the  forces  of 
nature.  Having  passed  through  a  variety  of  experiences, 
and  aided  in  his  ascent  by  a  gradual  accumulation  of 
knowledge,  he  has  ceased  to  be  a  dweller  in  caves,  and 
become  the  founder  of  magnificent  cities ;  he  has  ceased 
to  be  a  poor  ignorant  creature  trembling  with  fear  before 
every  change  in  the  aspect  of  nature,  and  become  the 
cairn  and  intelligent  astronomer  who  can  measure  the 
heavens,  predict  the  appearance  of  comets,  and  deter- 
mine the  density  and  distance  of  the  planets;  he  has 
laid  aside  the  rude  jargon  of  uncultivated  life  for  the 
refined  and  elevating  strains  of  a  Shakspeare,  a  Milton, 
and  a  Dante. 

In  short,  having  passed  from  the  simple  beginning  of 
rudimentary  knowledge  to  his  present  magnificent  attain- 
ments, shall  we  be  asked  to  believe  that  he  has  reached 
the  maximum  of  his  powers,  and  that  the  world  is  now 
about  to  stand  still  ?  Let  us  not  be  guilty  of  such  a 
fallacy ;  for,  as  long  as  the  human  mind  exists,  there 
must  always  be  an  everlasting  future,  at  every  stage  of 
which  we  may  hear  the  encouraging  words,  "Come  up 
higher."  The  eminence  of  thought  on  which  we  stand 
to-day  is  but  the  stepping  stone  to  a  higher  one  to-mor- 
row. Indeed,  if  we  ask  ourselves  seriously  what  this 
perpetual  striving  after  a  better  future  really  means,  will 
we  not  be  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  although  man  is, 
in  some  respects,  the  feeblest  branch  of  nature,  he  is  at 
the  same  time,  in  the  strictest  sense,  the  crown  and  glory 
of  the  universe  ?  The  most  insignificant  forces  in  nature 
will  sometimes  cause  his  death  ;  but  what  of  this,  since 


160 

even  in  his  dying  moments  he  may,  with  the  immortal 
Socrates,  bid  death  welcome  with  a  smile.:); 

Besides,  when  we  have  once  realized  the  peculiar 
beauty  and  attractiveness  in  this  phase  of  the  progression 
theory,  we  cannot  regard  the  records  of  history  otherwise 
than  as  an  accumulation  of  evidence  tending  in  this 
direction.  The  existence  of  an  occasional  hiatus  is  an 
appearance  rather  than  a  reality.  The  science  of  history 
has  yet  to  be  satisfactorily  written  ;  but  when  it  is,  it  will 
undoubtedly  remove  many  false  impressions  in  this 
particular,  while  it  will  also  reveal,  in  instances  which  we 
now  deem  almost  if  not  entirely  barren,  a  persistently 
progressive,  although  enigmatical,  course  in  the  direction 
and  conduct  of  human  affairs.  Nor  is  there  anything 
irrational  or  paradoxical  in  the  idea  which  suggests  the 
possibility  of  our  understanding  the  past  in  proportion 
as  we  recede  from  it.  The  principle  has  been  demonstrated 
again  and  again  in  the  light  of  experience.  In  fact,  it  is 
one  of  the  most  obvious  lessons  of  history  that  events 
which  at  the  time  of  their  occurrence  seemed  inevitably 
fraught  with  disaster  have  at  a  later  period  been  regarded 
as  so  many  links  in  the  chain  of  human  development, 
Is  it  impossible  for  the  same  rule  to  apply  to  modern 
thought?  As  we  have  before  stated  it  is  not  a  valid 
argument  to  urge  the  possibility  of  dangers  which  may 


£  Then  holding  the  cup  to  his  lips,  quite  readily  and  cheerfully  he  drankoff  the 
poison.  And  hitherto  most  of  us  had  been  able  to  control  our  sorrow  ;  but  now, 
when  we  saw  him  drinking,  and  saw,  too,  that  he  had  finished  the  draught  we 
cottld  no  longer  forbear,  and,  in  spite  of  myself,  my  own  tears  were  flowing  fast; 
so  that  I  covered  my  face  and  wept  over  myself,  for  certainly  I  was  not  weeping 
over  him,  but  at  the  thought  of  mvown  calamity  in  having  lost  such  a  companion.1' 
Such  were  the  words  of  uhtedo,  the  beloved  disciple,  as  he  related  the  death 
scene  of  this  truly  great  man  ;  and  in  their  presence  to-day,  notwithstanding  the 
lapse  of  ages,  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  escape  from  the  influences  of  that  moral 
glow  and  inspiration  which  belong  so  especially  to  the  son  of  Sophroniscus  as  the 
representative  of  all  that  is  best  and  noblest  in  philosophy. 


never  arise.  It  is  not  the  first  time  that  this  method  has 
been  applied  ;  nor  is  it  likely  that  in  the  present  instance 
it  will  meet  with  any  greater  measure  of  success  than  its 
predecessors  have  done.  Liberty  of  reason  means  the 
liberty  of  our  manhood  in  its  highest,  widest,  and  noblest 
sense,  and  it  is,  therefore,  an  insult  to  our  intelligence, 
and  a  hindrance  to  our  advancement,  to  attempt  to  suppress 
or  limit  its  action.  Besides,  even  admitting  that  it  is 
in  some  respects  a  terrible  ordeal  which  compels  us  to 
witness,  day  after  day,  the  interment  of  some  long-estab- 
lished theory  or  venerable  tradition,  it  is  well  for  us 
to  remember  that  we  are  simply  repeating  the  history 
of  man's  past  experience,  while  we  are  also  fulfilling 
those  inexorable  laws  which  render  a  process  of  constant 
intellectual  activity  synonymous  with  life;  and  which, 
under  our  present/jonditions,  render  it  impossible  for  us  to 
attain  to  that  state  of  sweet  serenity  and  calm  repose : 

"  Where  never  creeps  a  cloud,  "or  moves  a  wiml, 
Nor  ever  falls  the  least  white  star  of  tnow, 
Nor  ever  lowest  roll  of  thunder  moans, 
Nor  sound  of  human  sorrow  mounts  to  mar 
Their  sacred  everlasting  calm."§ 

As  the  world  is  at  present  constituted,  such  peace  can 
never  be  ours  ;  nor  would  it  perhaps  be  well  for  us  did 
we  possess  it.  We  begin  with  the  faint  lispings  of  an 
infantile  intelligence;  we  learn  by  practice,  trial,  and 
perseverance,  to  ascend  to  those  empyrean  heights  where 
wisdom  sits  enthroned  in  all  her  loveliness.  As  Max 
Miiller  has  beautifully  expressed  it :  "  There  is  one  kind 
of  faith  that  revels  in  words ;  there  is  another  that  can 
hardly  find  utterance :  the  former  is  like  riches  that 

§  TENNYSON'S  "Lucretius" 


162 

come  to  us  by  inheritance ;  the  latter  is  like  the  daily 
bread  which  each  of  us  has  to  win  in  the  sweat  of  his 
brow."  ||      Is    it    possible,   therefore,   in   view   of    these 
conditions,   and  especially  so  in  view   of  the   manifest 
superiority    of  the    latter   form   of    faith,    that   we   can 
regard  man's  attribute  of    reason  as  a  sort  of  Tantalus, 
rather   than   a   blessing  by   means   of    which   we   may 
gradually  ascend  to   the   highest   conditions  of  human 
wisdom  and  happiness  ?     As  we  pass  from  one  stage  of 
thought  to  another,  it  is  better  for  us  to  feel  lost  at  times 
in  a  labyrinth  of  doubt  and   perplexity — nay,  even  to 
experience    an    occasional    pang    of    despair — than    to 
fossilize    in  that  condition  of  intellectual  torpor  whose 
only   consequences   are   ignorance,    bigotry   and   super- 
stition.    Better  "Let  the  dead  bury  their  dead"  than 
have  the  impetus  of  the  age  paralyzed  by  any  mistaken 
estimate  of  approaching  danger.    At  present  the  scientific 
voice  is  like  one  crying  in  the  wilderness.     Let  us  hope 
that   the   day   is  not   far   distant   when    it   shall    have 
entered  every  household,  thereby  fulfilling  the  scriptural 
prediction,     "Behold  I  make  all  things  new."      In  an 
important    sense,    man    is    the   sublime    Columbus   of 
creation :  it  is   essentially  his    business   to    discover,  and, 
in  doing  so,  to  remove,  whenever  it  may  seem,  necessary, 
the  accumulated  dust  of  ages,  as  well  as  to  displace  the 
mists  of  error  by  the  sunshine  of  intelligence.     It  may 
be  true  that,  even  in  our  best  moments,  and  under  our 
most  sanguine  views  of  human  possibilities,  we  cannot 
hope  to  escape  the  experience  of  Goethe's  Faust,  as  he 
ponders  the  mystery  of  life.     Like  him,  we  may  find  our- 
selves ready  to  exclaim : 


i!  "Lecture  on  Mission*,"    delivered  in  Westminster  Abbey,  December,  1873. 


16$ 


"  I  feel   it,  I  have  heap'd  upon  my  brain 
The  gather'd  treasure  of  man's  thought  in  vain. 
And  when  at  length  from  studious  toil  I  rest, 
No  power,  new-born,  springs  up  within  my  breast, 
A  hair's  breadth  is  not  added  to  my  height, 
I  am  no  nearer  to  the  Infinite." 

These  temporary  seasons  of  discouragement  seem  to  be 
inseparable  from  our  discipline.  Indeed,  it  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  the  best  and  most  intellectual  natures 
are  apt  to  experience  them  the  most  frequently  and 
forcibly.  They  come  from  the  ever-receding  character  of 
that  horizon  to  which  we  have  before  alluded,  and  which 
we  may  strictly  define,  in  spite  of  its  seasons  of 
momentary  depression,  as  the  great  attractive  power 
perpetually  drawing  us  onward,  without,  however, 
the  possibility  of  our  ever  reaching  that  state  when, 
like  Alexander,  we  may  weep  for  more  worlds  to 
conquer.  As  we  extend  our  views  and  venture  on  oar 
voyage  of  discovery,  we  will  necessarily  leave  the  Pillars 
of  Hercules  behind  us;  but  to  suppose  that  in  doing  this 
we  can  ever  reach  that  point  when  there  shall  be  nothing 
beyond,  is  to  indulge  in  a  dream  which  can  never  be 
realized.  Our  position  to-day  is  the  result  of  a  long  line 
of  antecedent  conditions,  all  contributing  in  some  way 
toward  the  formation  of  the  present.  Let  us  remember 
that  the  same  rule  applies  to  our  relationship  to  the 
future.  If,  in  view  of  our  present  opportunities,  we  are 
simply  wasting  our  energies  on  the  discussion  of  vain  and 
fruitless  dogmas,  rather  than  concentrating  our  energies 
with  a  passionate  devotion  to  the  discovery  of  truth  as  it 
exists  in  the  laws  of  Nature,  and  therefore  inferentially  as 
the  revealed  will  of  God,  we  are  simply  repeating  the 
history  of  a  darker  age  in  which  the  noblest  attributes 


164 

of  man's  nature  were  tyrannized  over,  and  kept  in  an 
ignominious  bondage,  by  the  combined  influences  of  an 
unhealthy  asceticism  and  the  most  irrational  superstition. 
From  the  disastrous  consequences  which  medievalism 
has  entailed  upon  us,  let  us  learn  a  lesson  which*  we 
cannot  consistently  ignore ;  and  in  estimating  the  influences 
by  which  we  are  at  present  surrounded,  let  us  remember, 
also,  that  it  is  only  as  we  test  them  in  the  light  of  dispas- 
sionate judgement  that  we  can  reasonably  expect  to  under- 
stand their  tendencies,  or  to  anticipate  their  consequences. 
The  habit  of  thought,  no  matter  how  well-intentioned, 
which  execrates  the  representatives  of  progressive  thought 
the  moment  they  invade,  in  their  legitimate  investiga- 
tions, certain  creeds  which  have  slumbered  undisturbed 
for  ages,  is  necessarily  a  barrier  to  our  progress  and  an 
enemy  to  our  interests.  It  is  of  no  avail  to  urge  the 
unfitness  of  the  world  for  the  reception  of  advanced 
views.  Were  there  not  some  deeply  rooted  and  impera- 
tive necessity  in  the  age  which  demands  these  views  they 
would  never  have  existed.  They  come  to  us  not  as 
exotic  plants  imported  from  another  world,  but  as  the 
natural  outgrowth  of  certain  conditions  inhering  in 
man's  progressive  nature,  and  at  the  same  time  inseparably 
connected  with  that  law  of  change  which  is  no  less  a  law 
of  life  in  the  intellectual  than  in  the  material  world. 
Lastly,  as  we  lay  aside  the  pen,  we  would  offer  one 
parting  suggestion  which  may  possibly  assist  in  removing 
many  of  the  misunderstandings  and  misapprehensions 
which  now  exist,  viz.:  if  theologians  would  but  examine 
calmly  the  history  of  the  past,  they  would  find  much  to 
convince  them  that  although  theology  may  sustain 
defeat,  religion  has  invariably  come  brighter  and  purer 
from  the  contest. 


165 

The  age  of  the  world,  as  it  widens  into  centuries 
upon  centuries,  tends  more  and  more  to  confirm  our 
belief  in  an  all-wise  and  infinitely-perfect  God ;  but  in 
accomplishing  this,  it  is  absolutely  indispensable  that  we 
should  witness  many  changes  in -the  form  of  our  con- 
ceptions, laying  aside  always  the  lower  for  the  higher. 

It  is  an  encouraging  fact  that  the  more  deeply  and 
carefully  we  study  the  tendencies  of  the  present  age,  the 
less  afraid  are  we  of  falling  into  a  bottomless  abyss.  If 
we  cannot  avoid  acting  as  mourners  beside  many  a 
venerable  creed  or  dogma,  we  may,  at  least,  do  so  in  the 
hope  of  that  resurrection  when  Truth  shall  come  forth 
brighter  and  more  beautiful,  because,  in  our  weakness, 
we  believed  her  dead.  "  Thou  fool,  that  which  thou 
sowest  is  not  quickend,  except  it  die,"  is  true,  not  only 
when  applied  to  the  subject  of  man's  immortality  ;  it  is 
also  true  in  its  application  to  those  changes  and  alterna- 
tions which  are  necessarily  inseparable  from  intellectual 
growth.  It  is  the  business  of  a  merely  animal  existence 
to  sleep  and  feed.  It  is  the  privilege  and  glory  of  man 
that  he  may  rise  to  Alpine  heights  of  knowledge,  higher 
and  yet  higher ;  at  each  ascent  gaining  a  wider  prospect 
of  truth,  and  entering  thereby  into  a  clearer  and  better 
appreciation  of  the  undying  beauty  of  a  virtuous  life. 
According  to  Emerson : 

"  Profounder,   profounder 
Man's  spirit  must  dive : 
To  his  aye-rolling  orbit 
No  goal  will  arrive. 
The  heavens  that  now  draw  him 
With  sweetness  untold, 
Once  found — for  new  heavens 
He  spurneth  the  old." 


166 

Thought  is  alive,  and  therefore  we  cannot  expect  to 
find,  in  its  movements  a  merely  mechanical  process. 

Besides,  it  is  a  law  of  man's  nature  that  he  should 
instinctively  recoil  from  intellectual  stagnation  as  his 
deadliest  enemy  and  the  precussor  of  decomposition 
and  decay.  The  greatness  of  an  age  is  always  commen- 
surate with  its  intellectual  freedom.  The  measure  of 
our  intellectual  liberty  must  always  be  determined  by 
our  appreciation  of  reason.  Nor  need  it  be  feared  that 
there  is,  under  the  unlimited  exercise  of  our  rational 
faculties,  any  danger  of  ending  in  a  hopeless  negation  of 
our  finer  feelings.  It  is  not  possible,  as  we  have  before 
said,  for  reason  to  annihilate  sentiment. 

It  is  possible,  under  every  advance  of  thought,  for 
man  to  discover  a  deeper  beauty  and  a  higher  meaning 
in  Nature,  accompanied  by  a  more  vivid  realization  of 
Virtue  as  the  indispensable  ally  of  "Wisdom. 


Antipodes,  Controversy  Respecting, 11 

Animalism  Subdued  by  Culture,     ------  69 

Argyll,  Duke  of,  on  Law,                                             ...  77 

Anthropomorphism  not  Irrational,  -  80 

Augustine,  St.,  on  the  Existence  of  Evil,      -                          -  119 

Athens,  Influence  of,  -                                                    ...  133 

33. 

Bacon,  on  Knowledge,                                                           -        -  27 

Beauty  and  Culture,                                                              -        -  73 

Barbarism  Compared  with  Civilization,                     ....  75 

Berkeley,  on  Matter,       ,  -  81 

Beauty  and  Virtue,  Connection  between         -  .              -        -  90 

Buckle,  on  Science  and  Theology, 115 

Bigotry,  Evil  Consequences  of                                     ...  158 

C.  ' 

Cosmas,  his  Theory  of  the  Universe,      -                  -         -         -  11 

Chance,  Impossibility  of  -                           16 

Christianity  and  Theology,       -         -        *         -         -         -         -  19 

Civilization  and  Skepticism,                                                            -  85 

Christianity,  Characteristics  of 38 

Cicero  on  Prejudice,                                    48 


170 


Culture  and  Modern  Thought,         ......  49 

Clement  of   Alexandria  —  his  Liberality  of   Thought,     -         -  53 

Culture  and  Religion,       ........  55 

Continuity,  Law  of  -  58 

Civilization,  Growth  of  60 

Culture  Denned,                                                    ....  67 

Change  Synonymous  with  Life,       ......  70 

Chastity,  Beauty  of  -                                  .....  72 

Culture  and  Theology,     -  73 

Consciousness,  Testimony  of    -         -  .       .....  81 

Civilization  Defined,                                                                       -  135 

Crime  —  Its  Lessons,           ...         .....  136 

Character,  Formation  of  .....         ...  143 

Christianity,  the  Beauty  of  its  Ideal,       -----  141 

Carlyle,  on  Falsehood,      ........  157 


Doubt  and  Knowlege,  their  Relationship,  31 
Darwinism  not  Irrational,          .......        48 

Diodorus  of  lasus,  on  the  Awful  Nothing,  80 

Deity  and  Personality,    -  83 

Devil  Destroyed  by  Culture,    -  113 

Devil,  Characteristics  of,  -       126 

Death,  Ideas  Respecting,  -  151 

E. 

Earth,  Geological  Changes  of,  -        95 

Evil,  Existence  of,    -  110 

Education  Defined,    ......  139 

Evolution,  Doctrine  of,     -        -        -  145 

Emerson,  on  Man,    ........  166 


F. 

Francis  St.— his  Beauty  of  Character, 38 

Faith  and  Culture, ...        47 


in 

Fall  of  Man, 49 

Faith  and  Science, 66 

Fatalism,  Objections  to 88 

Freedom  Defined, 92 

Faith,  Different  Kinds  of                                    ....  161 

O. 

Goethe,  on  Knowledge,                -        - 31 

Giotto,  his  Beauty  of  Character, 57 

Gibbon,  on  Progress,  -                 -------  65 

Greece,  Spirit  of                   70 

Geology  Suggestive  of  Gradual  Improvement,  95 

God  in  Science  and  Theology,  -        -        -        .   "    -        -        -  116 

Golden  Age,                  .  131 

Greece,  Influence  of 132 

Gibbon,  on  Justinian, 132 

H. 

Human  Nature,  Science  of,                 14 

Hamilton,  Sir  Willian,  on  Man,        .:....  37 

Hamlet,  on  Man, 44 

Humanity  defined,                         74 

Hallam,  on  Man,                            120 

Hesiod,  on  the  Golden  Age, 121 


Intelligence  and  Superstition,     .......  n 

Infants,  St.  Augustine's,  Views  Respecting,    -  127 

Ideal  Influences,  -        - 139 

Intellect,  Power  of               144 

Intellectual  Stagnation,  Dangers  of          -        -                -        -  167 

J. 

Justin  Martyr— his  Liberality  of  Thought,      ....  53 

Jews  Influenced  by  Persian  Ideas, 125 

Justinian,  Virtues  of, .  132 


172 


Lactantius  on  the  Antipodes,  -        .        .  H 

Life,  Mystery  of,  -        .  27 

Lecky,  on  Christianity,  -        ...  41 

Lucretius — his  Hatred  of  Superstition,     -  -        -  55 

Laplace,  Theory  x>f  .  67 

Law,  Supremacy  of     -  ...  76 

Law,  Definition  of                                 77 

Law,  Universality  of  -  84 

Law,  and  Man's  Moral  Sense, 87 

Law  a  Divine  Instrumentality 89 

Law  and  Freedom,  .        .  91 

Law  in  the  Realm  of  Thought,  -        -        -        -        .        .  92 

Luther  on  the  Human  Will,      -  -        -        -        .        .        .  127 


Man  as  a  Rational  Being,  -                                                   -        -  11 

Mill,  John  Stuart,  on  the  Science  of  Human  Nature,   -        -  15 

Modern  Thought,         -                                                             -        -  17 

Mediaevalism,  Influences  of  63 

Modern  Culture,  -                                                                      -        -  65 

Moon,  Australian  Legend  Respecting,               ....  75 

Mind  and  Nature,        -                         82 

Man,  Civilized  and  Uncivilized, 86 

Man  and  Nature,                                                              -        -        -  93 

Moral  Consciousness,  -                                                    -        -         -  94 

Moral  Science,  Present  Condition   of                          -        .        .  90 

Man  as  an  Animal  "and  as  a  Spiritual  Being,          -        -        .  105 

Man — his  Earliest  Condition,                                -'  121 

Man  as  a  Progressive  Animal,           -        .        -         -        .        .  128 

Modern  Thought,  Characteristics  of                    ....  130 

Macaulay,  on  Athens,                                             ....  133 

Moral  Sequence, -        -        -        -  136 

Man,  Demands  of  his  Nature, 144 

Middle  Ages,  Characteristics  of 158 


173 


Nature,  Scientific  and  Unscientific  Views  of  -        -        -        -  10 

Do.            do.                        do.                do.                         -  75 

Nihilism,  Effects  of    -        -                 ......  79 

Neo-Platonism  and  Modern  Thought,       .....  149 


O. 

Orithyia,  Myth  of                                                                   -        -  29 

Orthodoxy  and  Skepticism,  30 

Oxford  University — its  Influences,     -                                 -        -  64 

Ontology,  Science  of    -        -        -        - 86 

Original  Sin,  Doctrine  of    -  110 

£*. 

Philosophy  Influenced  by  Science, 23 

Pyrrohnism  and  Modern  Skepticism, 31 

Philosophy,  Basis  of 33 

Protestantism  and  Skepticism, 36 

Prayer,  its  Sustaining  Power, 

Primitive  Man — his  Views  of  Nature,                                       -  7G 

Pantheism  and  Nihilism,    -                          85 

Prayer  Analyzed,         -        -  97 

Pelagius,  Anathematizing  of                        -        -                 -        -  113 

Piilmerston  and  the  Scotch  Clergy,  -  -  114 
Progress,  Evidences  of  -  -  -  128  - 158 
Progress,  Condition  of  -  144,  161,  166 

Progress,  Philosophy  of 151 

Pindar,  on  Happiness, 146 


K. 

Religion  and  Nature,  -        -        -        -  •      -        -        -        -  18 

Religion  and  Science,  -        -        -  ...        .        ."  22 

Religion,  Elements  of         -  51 

Roman  Church, — its  Polly  in  Opposing  Science,  25 

Reason,  Use  of   --»•';*•'«•'--.'-'•-•'-  44 


.174 

Rationalism  a  feature  of  Modern  Thought,            ...  46 

Religious  Beliefs,  Diversity  in  52 

Religion,  Possibility  of  a  Science  of  53 

Religion  and  Morality,      -        -                 91 

Reason  and  Superstition,  Contest  Between     -  128 

Rome,  Influence  of 132 

Reason,  Greatness  of 163 


Science  and  Progress, 12 

Science,  its  Twofold  Aspect,    -  13 

Scientific  Prevision,  Degrees  in  14 

Science,  Advance  of 17 

Science,  Advantages  of ,18 

Socratic  Method  of  Reasoning — its  Advantages,     -         -  19 

Science  and  Religion,        -  22 

Skepticism  and  Progress,                           -----  31 

Skepticism  and  Philosophy, 43 

Sophocles,  on  Reason,       -                  45 

Science — its  Higher  and  Lower  Aspect, 51 

Spirit  of  the  Age,     -  72 

Science,  Changes  Effected  by  -                 77 

Spiritual  Beauty,       -  -      -  96 

Satan,  Characteristics  of                                                       -        -  125 

Serpent — its  Meaning  in  the  Account  of   Man's  Fall              -  125 

Sin,  Modern  Idea  of                                      129 

Socrates,  Death  of     -  160 

rr. 

Theology  and  Science, 10 

Truth,  Discovery  of                                                                          •  16 

Theological  Discussions,  Fruitlessness  of        -  19 

Theology  Purified  by  Science,                                                     -  27 

Truth,  Beauty  of  34 

Toleration  a  Condition  of  Skepticism  40 

Terentia,  Tomb  of    -,,.,....  23 


175 

Truth,  Indestructibility  of       .......        74 

Theism  and  Civilization,  ........        83 

U. 

Universeits  —  Manifestations  of  an  Intelligent  Cause,    -        -        83 


Virtue,  Reward  of    ......                 -  146 

Virtue  the  Ally  of  Wisdom,    .......  167 

W. 

World  Ruled  by  God,  and  not  the  Devil,               ...  56 

WorM,  Adjustments  in    ......        -        -  83 


THE  MARTYRDOM  OF  MAN. 

By   WINWOOD    READE. 

12mo,  Cloth,  543  pp.,    -----       $3.OO. 


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PHILOSOPHY  OP  SPIRITUALISM, 

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and  brilliancy,  his  thought  always  clear  and  logical."  —  Liberal  Christian. 

"  His  book  is  a  counterprise  to  the  book  of  Wallace."  —  Christian  Register. 

"  Infinitely  superior  to  the  usual  methods  by  which  Spiritualism  is  attacked."  — 
Toledo  Journal. 

"It  is  desirable  in  the  interest  of  truth  that  the  little  book  should  be  dis- 
seminated as  widely  as  possible."  —  Jewiah  Times. 

"It  takes  an  entirely  original  view  of  the  subject  of  Spiritualism,  and  of  the 
condition  called  medium!  ^tic."—  Sunday  Journal. 

"  The  author's  analysis  of  nervous  and  mental  phenomena  is  sharply  scientific, 
while  his  pathological  theories  are  rational,  clear,  and  modern.  —  Medical  Review. 

"The  professional  standing  of  the  Doctor  is  such  as  to  entitle  his  lectures  to 
profound  consideration."  —  Chicago  Post  and  Mail. 


JL.    It.    BUTTS     «fc    CO., 

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ANCIENT    FAITHS 


n 


OB,  AN  ATTEMPT  TO  TBACB 

THE  RELIGIOUS  BELIEF,  SOCIAL  RITES  AND  HOLY  EMBLEMS 
OF  CERTAIN  NATIONS, 

BY  AN 

INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  NAMES 

GIVEN    TO    CHILDREN    BY     PRIESTLY     AUTHORITY,     OR 
ASSUMED  BY  PROPHETS,  KINGS  AND  HIERARCHS. 

BT 

THOMAS  INMAN,  M.D.,  (London,) 

Physician  to  the  Royal  Infirmary,  Liverpool  ;  late  Lecturer,  successively,  on  Botany, 

Medical  Jurisprudence,  Materia  Medica,  and  Therapeutics  and 

the  Principles  and  Practice  of  Medicine. 

Author  Of  Foundation  for  a  New  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine;  A  Treatise  on 

Myology  ;  On  the  Real  Nature  of  Inflammation  ;  Atheroma  in 

Arteries  ;  On  the  Preservation  of  Health,  &c. 

Late  President  of  the  Liverpool  Philosophical  Society,  &c. 

This  work,  complete,  1914  pp.,  8vo,  and  several  hundred 
illustrations.     Price,  $27. 

Address  the  American  Publishers, 

ASA    K.    BUTTS    &    CO., 

36  Dey  Street,  N.  T. 


THE   SAFEST   CREED, 

AND 

Twelve  other  Recent  Discourses  of  Reason, 

BY    O.    B.    FROTHINGHAM. 

Cloth,  beveled,  fine  paper,  12 mo, $1.50. 

"  These  discourses  manifest  deep  thought,  thorough  conviction,  and  great 
ability."— Philadelphia  Press. 

"  Mr.  Frothingham  is  a  gentleman  of  .national  reputation.  He  is  not  an  ortho- 
dox Christian  clergyman;  on  the  contrary,  he  is  an  advanced  thinker  or  rationalist; 
yet  he  wields  the  gift  of  eloquence  with  a  large  force.  .  .  .  The  discourses  embrace, 
besides  the  one  which  gives  the  title  to  the  book,  a  wide  range  of  topics,  such 
as:  The  Radical  Belief;  The  Joy  of  a  Free  Faith;  The  Gospel  of  To-day;  The 
Scientific  Aspect  of  Prayer;  Immortals  of  Man;  The  Infernal  and  the  Celestial 
Love;  and  the  Victory  over  Death."— The  Pittsburgh  Chronicle. 

"The  author  of  these  discourses  is  the  high  priest  of  New  England  transcen- 
dental '  radicalism,1  and  is  the  recognized  exponent  of  this  latest  and  most  genteel 
phase  of  modern  infidelity.  None  of  his  contemporaries  can  approach  him  in 
elegance  of  diction.  He  writes  gracefully,  ...  in  the  richest  garb  of  flowery 
rhetoric." — Albany  Evening  Journal. 

"  It  presents  as  able  an  exposition  of  the  views  of  the  'Radicals  '  in  religion  as 
has  been  offered.  Mr.  Frothingham  has  courage,  as  well  as  sincerity,  and  presents 
his  ideas  with  entire  frankness,  and  with  a  clearness  of  style  and  an  intellectual 
strength  which  are  likely  to  command  for  them  general  attention.  The  book  is 
printed  on  fine  paper,  and  is  handsomely  bound." — Boston  Saturday  Evening 
Gazette. 

"  A  vigorous  thinker,  ....  as  eloquent  as  Theodore  Parker,  .  .  .  so  smoothly 
written  that  even  those  who  cannot  accept  his  deductions  will  yet  be  scarcely  able 
to  lay  the  book  down  till  it  is  finished."— New  Bedford  Standard. 

"  The  ideal  of  Frothingham,  his  God,  is  as  noble  a  conception  as  ever  emanated 
from  the  brain  of  a  human  being,  and  the  author  possesses  the  highest  ability  to 
paint  Him  in  the  finest  and  most  charming  colors.  His  use  of  the  brush  is  that  of 
the  most  accomplished  artist^and  thinking  men  of  every  shade  of  opinion  will  find 
delight  in  the  picture  presented." — The  Jewish  Time*. 

"  The  publisher  has  done  a  good  thing  to  bring  them  together  in  this  more 
permanent  form.  All  the  work  is  entirely  new  and  very  handsome.  The  whole 
appearance  of  the, book  deserves  the  warmest  approbation.  'To  cherish  no 
illusion1  might  be  tne  text  of  every  one  of  them.  There  is  everywhere  a  resolute 
attempt  to  adjust  thought  and  life  to  what  is  really  known,  to  accept  the  facts,  and 
then  see  what  sustenance  can  be  extracted  from  them.  A  book  like  this  is  certain 
to  be  widely  read  and  to  produce  a  deep  impression." — Liberal  Christian. 

"A  very  neat-looking  volume,  .  .  .  and  further,  Mr.  Frothingham  is  well  known 
the  country  through  as  one  of  the  prominent  leaders  of  that  intelligent,  radical 
and  promising  anti-theological  party  who  call  themselves  Free  Religionists.  He  is 
a  gentleman  of  fine  scholarly  attainments,  a  superior  writer  and  eloquent  speaker, 
and  judged  by  his  intellect,  liberality,  progress,  and  independence,  is  probably  the 
best  preacher  in  the  United  Sates  at  the  present  day.  .  .  .  On  what  is  human, 
natural,  practical,  useful,  and  liberal,  he  is  very  conclusive,  instructive,  and 
gratifying,  and  gems  of  this  kind  are  sparkling  on  every  page  of  '  The  Safest 
Creed.'  "—Boston  Investigator. 


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MATERIALISM : 

Its  Ancient  History,    Its  Recent  Developments,    Its 
Practical  Beneficence. 

By  DR.    L.   BUECHNER. 

Author  of  "  Force  and  Matter."  "Man,  his  Nature,  Origin,"  &c. 

Translated  from  the  author's  MS.  by  Professor  A.  Loos. 

NEVER    BEFORE    PUBLISHED. 

12mo.   Paper,  25  cts.   For  distribution  to  Clubs,  12  copies  for  $2  50. 


FORCE  AND  MATTER. 

Empirico-Philosophical  Studies  Intelligibly  Rendered,  with  an  additional 
Introduction  expressly  written  for  the/English  Edition. 

BY  DR.  LOUIS  BUECHNER, 

President  of  the  Medical  Association  of  Iles^en  Darmstadt,  «fcc.,  &c. 
Edited  from  the  last  edition  of  "Kraft  und  Stoff,"  by 

J.  FREDERICK  COLLINGWOOD,  F.R.S.L.,  F.G.S. 

Second  English,  completed  from  the  Tenth  German  Edition,  with  a  por- 
trait of  the  author. 
Crown,  8vo.    Cloth,  $3 
Popular  edition,  12mo.  Cloth,  In  press. 


In  the  JPresent,  JPast  and.  Fnttxr-e. 

A  POPULAR  ACCOUNT  OF  THE 

Besults  of  Eecent  Scientific  Eesearch, 

From  the  German  of  DR.  L.  BUECHNER,  by  W.  S  DALLAS,  F.L.S. 

8vo.   Cloth,  $4. 
Popular  edition,  12mo.  Cloth,  In  press. 

Any  of  the  above  sent  free  by  mail,  on  receipt  of  price* 


"The  highest  glory  of  an  Age  or  Land  is  in  its  advanced  minds' 
THOUGHT,  and  in  the  radiation  and  expression  thereof,  dauntlessly  seeking 
the  True  in  Science,  Theology,  Politics,  and  in  the  works  of  free-souled 
Poets  well-grounded  in  these,  and  expressing  them  through  the  sense  of 
Beauty." 

HANDSOME  NEW  EDITIONS. 

Walt  Whitman's  Books. 

LEAVES   OF  GRASS.    Complete.    504pp.  -   $3.00 

AS  A  STRONG  BIRD  ON  PINIONS  FREE.  .75 

DEMOCRATIC  VISTAS.     Political  Essay.     Prose.     .75 
J.   BUKROUGHS'  NOTES  ON  WALT  WHITMAN.     1.00 

This  writer  does  not  appeal  to  the  superficial  tastes  in  art,  or  in  the 
beautiful ;  but  always  to  the  deepest,  healthiest,  the  most  growing,  and 
enduring ;  and  has  attracted  solid  admiration  and  advocacy  from  such 
quarters  as  the  following: 

RALPH  WALDO  EMERSON, 

FERDINAND  FREILEGRATH, 
WM.  M.  ROSSETTI, 

ROBERT  BUCHANAN, 

BJORNSON  BJORNSENE. 

WESTMINISTER  REVIEW, 

REVUE  DES  DEUX  MQNDES. 

IDE  OF  VIRKELIGHER  (Denmark). 
DARK  BLUE  (London). 

Of  these  the  Westminster  says,  in  a  very  elaborate  review,  that 
"WHITMAN  is  undoubtedly  the  first  real  bard  of  Democracy."  The 
French  Revue,  in  a  long  article  with  translations,  pronounces  DRUM 
TAPS  "  the  most  original,  lyrical,  emotional  aud  deeply-stirring  war 
poetry  extant."  Emerson,  at  its  first  edition,  decided  LEAVES  OF 
GRASS  to  -be,  "  the  greatest  piece  of  wit  and  wisdom  America  has 
yet  contributed."  And  the  English  critic  Rossetti,  atter  a  study  of 
WHITMAN  for  ten  years,  deliberately  calls- him  "  by  far  the  grandest  poet 
of  his  country,  and  one  of  the  grandest  of  any  country."  Another  authority 
states  that,  of  all  known  specimens  of  poetry,  these  alone  are  "  based  on 
modern  science,  and  the  philosophic  spirit." 

The  Daily  Graphic  says :  <•  The  circulation  of  MR.  WHITMAN'S 
works  has  been  constantly  growing  with  his  growing  reputation,  and 
"  Leaves  of  Grass,"  which  was  originally  a  thin  pamphlet,  has  become  a 
thick  octavo.  The  world  has  changed  its  opinion  of  WALT  WHITMAN 
as  a  poet  since  the  time,  more  than  fifteen,  years  ago,  when  Mr.  Greeley,  in 
a  lecture  on  poetry,  ventured  to  allude  to  "  WALT  WHITMAN'S  rare  poetic 
genius,"  and  was  soundly  ridiculed  for  so  doing.  "  Leaves  of  Grass  "  can 
hardly  be  said  to  be  popular  even  now,  but  the  author  has  won  a  brilliant 
reputation,  both  here  and  in  England,  and  no  one  can  afford  to  plead 
ignorance  as  to  his  work.  Whatever  else  posterity  may  do.  it  will  not 
suffer  WALT  WHITMAN  to  be  forgotten,  and  his  poetry,  however  much 
future  critics  may  abuse  it,  will  always  be  read  by  every  student  of  Eng- 
lish literature. 


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New  Book  by  L  FEUERBACH,  author  of  "  The  ESSENCE  OF 
CHRISTIANITY,"  &c.  &c. 

THE  ESSENCE  OF  RELIGION. 

God  the  Image  of  Man,    Man's  Dependence  upon 
Nature  the  last  and  only  source  of  Religion, 

BY  L.  FEUEBBACH. 
Translated  from  the  German  by  yROF*  j±.  LOOS. 


12mo.    Pe.per,  50  cents.    Cloth,  75  cts.   For  distribution,  to  Clubs 
Ten  copies  in  paper  for  Five  Dollars. 


[From  a  lecture  on  Feuerbach,  by  O.  B.  Frothingham,  in  Horticultural 

Hall.] 

The  spirit  of  Feuerbach,  though  impetuous,  was  noble.  "The 
spirit  of  the  time,"  he  said,  "is  show,  not  substance  Our  politics,  our 
ethics,  our  religion,  our  science,  is  a  sham.  The  truth-teller  is  ill-man- 
nered, therefore  immoral.  Truthfulness  is  the  immorality  of  our  age  ! " 
"  My  business  was,  and'above  everything  is,  to  illumine  the  dark  re- 
gions of  leligion  with  the  torch  of  reason,  that  man  at  last  may  no  longer 
bo  a  sport  to  the  hostile  powers  that  hitherto  and  now  avail  themselves  of 
the  mystery  of  religion  to  oppress  mankind.  My  aim  has  been  to  prove 
that  the  powers  before  which  man  crouches  are  creatures  of  his  own 
limited,  ignorant,  uncultured,  and  timorous  mind,  to  prove  that  in 
.special  the  being  whom  man  sets  over  against  himself  as  a  separate  su- 
pernatural existence  is  his  own  being.  The  purpose  of  my  writing  is 
to  make  men  cm^ropologians  instead  of  Meologians  ;  man-lovers  instead 
of  God-lovers ;  students  of  this  world  instead  of  candidates  of  the  next ; 
self-reliant  citizens  of  the  earth  instead  of  subservient  and  wily  ministers 
of  a  celestial  and  terrestrial  monarchy  My  object  is  therefore  anything 
but  negative,  destructive,  it  is  positive  :  I  deny  in  order  to  affirm.  I 
deny  the  illusions  of  theology  and  religion  that  I  may  affirm  the  sub- 
stantial being  of  man." 

ALSO,    THE         » 

ESSENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY, 

By  L.  FEUERBACH. 

Translated  from  the  German  by  MARIAN  EVANS,  author  of  "  Middle- 
march,"  <fec    &c.        Cloth,  $3.00. 
Either  of  the  above  books  sent  free  by  mail  on  receipt  of  price. 


NATHANIEL  VAUGHAN.: 

Priest   and    Man. 


BY   FREDERIKA  MACDONALD, 
Author  of  the  "Iliad  of  tho  East,"  etc.,  etc. 


Vol.  Extra  Cloth,  beveled  ;    I  2mo,  400  pp.    $  1 .50. 


"An  independent  and  respectable  study  of  character  in  the  law 
of  circumstance  such  as  even  George  Eliot  might  not  have  been 
ashamed  to  own  as  her  first  novel.  .  .  A  more  vigorous  presentment 
of  the  mischievous  nature  of  modern  Christianity,  in  its  most 
honest  and  consistent  form,  need  not  be  desired." — Westminster 
Review. 

"There  is  mucli  of  power  and  of  interest  in  this  novel.  The 
characters  are  set  before  us  by  a  few  graphic  and  able  touches,  not 
as  puppets,  but  as  living  beings." — Pali-Mall  Gazette. 

"Power,  eloquence  and  originality  characterize  'Nathaniel 
Vaughan '  to  a  degree  very  unusual  among  modern  novels.  The 
shipwreck  of  a  noble  nature  has  seldom  been  more  tragically  por- 
trayed, wThile  the  painf ulness  of  the  situation  is  relieved  \)j  the 
exquisite  attractiveness  and  ultimate  felicity  of  the  heroine,  and 
the  humor  of  the  scenes  of  village  life." — Illustrated  Tendon  News. 

"  It  is  a  really  artistic  composition,  with  a  sound  moral  expressed, 
though  not  obtruded,  on  the  canvas.  ...  A  very  bold  and 
trenchant  attack  on  Orthodoxy,  and  the  earnestness  with  which  it 
is  made  throughout  is  not  marred  by  the  grace  and  humor  with 
which  its  lighter  passages  are  told." — Westminster  Revieic. 


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